Bishops should proceed with caution

Q: U.S. Catholic bishops are defending their direct involvement in congressional deliberations over health-care reform, saying that church leaders have a duty to raise moral concerns on any issue, including abortion rights and health care for the poor. Do you agree? What role should religious leaders have -- or not have -- in government policymaking?

U. S. Catholic Bishops and other religious leaders are justified in their involvement in congressional discussions of health care reform. But they should proceed with caution.

The debate over health care reform intersects with moral issues at the heart of Catholic belief and practice. While abortion has been the issue that has received the most attention, Catholic opposition to abortion exists within a larger context of affirming the dignity of human life. Advocating adequate health care for the poor and marginalized is also related to this larger life-affirming ethic. For this very reason, the U. S. Catholic bishops are correct to seek substantive involvement in the shaping of health care policy, especially as it concerns the unborn and other vulnerable members of society.

While the Catholic interest in health care does proceed from a set of specifically Christian religious assumptions, it is not limited by them. At issue in the health care debate are competing understandings of what constitutes the "common good." Not only does Catholic teaching have much to say on this subject, other religious faiths and Christian denominations do as well. For any governmental entity that seeks to represent and engage its diverse constituencies, it is not only intellectually wise but politically prudent to seek the counsel of religious leaders who have crucial roles in shaping the contours of American civil society and public discourse.

In one sense, Catholic involvement in the health care debate is premised upon the aspiration articulated in the Lord's Prayer, "Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven." But as commonsensical as it might seem to many Catholic Christians, this assertion is fraught with its own tensions. That is why U.S. Catholic bishops, as well as other religious leaders, should also exercise critical self-reflection and restraint when inserting themselves directly into governmental deliberations and processes.

The Catholic Church's relationship with the nation-state has always been complicated. Depending upon particular goals and objectives, the Church has been both conciliatory and confrontational; depending upon the particular time and place, the Church has aligned itself with national governments, maintained political neutrality, and become an agent of resistance and change. All these approaches have justification in Catholicism; all of these approaches have risks depending upon an often uneven weighing of sacred and secular considerations. But as far as involvement in governmental deliberations is concerned, the risk for any religion, or religious leader, grows along with increasing proximity to the coercive power of the state.

Like many other religious leaders, Catholic bishops are teachers. It is in their capacity as teachers that Catholic bishops, along with other religious leaders, have a great deal to offer governmental decision makers, especially by calling attention to the ethical implications of policy and by giving voice to those who otherwise would remain voiceless. But as such efforts lead to positions of influence, the temptation will always be to buttress religious witness with the authority of the state. When that happens, it becomes impossible to distinguish God's will in heaven from the will of self-interested human beings here on earth. Because of this, the decision to stand back from political power is as important as the decision to step forward into the political process.

By Mathew N. Schmalz  |  November 17, 2009; 9:19 PM ET Save & Share:                 
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Posted by: Schaum | November 19, 2009 10:53 AM
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