Our Pastors Have a Duty to Speak on Prudential Matters, and We Have a Duty to Listen

Many Catholics, it seems, would be happier if bishops and priests stuck to preaching the non-negotiable, unchanging truths of the faith: in regard to abortion, that all life is sacred; in regard to immigration, that the stranger is to be welcomed. As the reasoning goes, transforming these truths into practical action is a task for an individual's well-formed conscience.

I'm not always a great listener, but I'm trying my best, at least in this years-old picture of me with Jerome Listecki, currently the archbishop of Milwaukee, Wis., whom I consider a dear friend.

To tell educated Catholic layfolk whom to vote for, what legislation to support, what policy best fits Catholic teaching--these sorts of things seem pretty universally to rub us the wrong way when they come from the pulpit.

It's no surprise, therefore, that bishops and priests generally steer clear of sharing their own prudential judgements. You will hear a priest say that life is sacred, but not quite so often that you can't vote for this or that abortion-supporting politician; you will hear a priest say that we ought to welcome the stranger, but not specifically that we need to march in the streets next Sunday in protest of Trump's recent executive order temporarily suspending entry of refugees from several Muslim-majority countries.

The U.S. Bishops' statement two days ago is case-in-point: "Our desire is not to enter the political arena," Cardinal DiNardo and Archbishop Gomez, respectively president and vice-president of the USCCB, write, "but rather to proclaim Christ alive in the world today."

To which I say, baloney and hogwash.

The dichotomy between entering into the particulars of the political arena and proclaiming Christ is, by and large, false and unhelpful, perhaps worse.

More refreshing, in my opinion, is New Jersey Cardinal Tobin's statement that "[c]losing borders and building walls are not rational acts."  Or Chicago Cardinal Cupich's statement that "[t]he executive order to turn away refugees and to close our nation to those, particularly Muslims, fleeing violence, oppression, and persecution is contrary to both Catholic and American values."

Before the more conservative crowd whom I associate with de-friends me or throws eggs at my house, let me hasten to add that I think Cardinal Tobin in particular grossly overstates his case. I know plenty of people who've made reasonable cases for stronger border security. Following up with a statement that "[m]ass detentions and wholesale deportation benefit no one" is a total red herring on Tobin's part. Nobody outside the radical fringes is calling for that. Trump himself isn't calling for that, at least not since his early campaign hyperbole, which is found nowhere in these executive orders.

My point is not that Cardinals Tobin and Cupich are right, but that if we want to know what they think, we need simply to read their statements. They proclaim that the stranger must needs be welcomed, and then they make a reasoned case that this non-negotiable truth makes Trump's executive orders contrary to the faith.

There's nothing of subterfuge in the statements of Tobin and Cupich, nothing implied, nothing merely hinted at, nothing that must be read between the lines, unlike the official USCCB statement.

Again, don't get me wrong. It annoys me that Tobin in particular so overstates his case. The reason that faith leaders have a duty to speak on prudential matters is that due to their seminary training and their prayer life, they ought to be good at modeling prudential judgements.

Ought, of course, is the operative word here. The actual training and prayer life of faith leaders varies wildly from one to the other. They are human, and they are therefore as prone to imprudence and bad judgement as anybody else.

But I strongly believe that it is part of the charism of the sacrament of holy orders to model prudential judgement to the lay faithful. Holy orders sets a man apart and transforms him; it makes him concerned for the things of God, not the things of the world. Zelo zelatus sum pro Domino Deo Exercituum. It's not that we aren't all called to be concerned for the things of God, but bishops and priests don't get married, they don't collect wealth; it's built into their very charism as clerics not to be concerned with the things of the world.

Ought, again, is the operative word. But the priest's duty to model prudential judgement is why we hunger for the sage advice of the confessional. It is why we accost our parish priest after Sunday Mass to ask for his advice in whatever domestic situation confronts us. It is why priests make such great marriage counselors.

What is true of the confessional, of the pastoral conversation, and of the counseling session is also true of the cleric's reading of public life and politics.  Our faith leaders have a duty to speak out clearly, forcefully, and unambiguously, and in many places in the world they still do. Especially in Africa and Latin America, bishops take stands against individual politicians and work to promote specific pieces of legislation. They not only proclaim the truths of the faith, but model the way to apply these unchanging truths to contemporary issues and situations.

Of course, here in the United States there is the old Protestant canard that bishops and priests are under the sway of the pope, a foreign head of state. There is also the unfortunate amendment to the tax code a half century ago that prohibits churches and other non-profits from endorsing political candidates. Finally, there has been an emphasis since Vatican II on the role of the lay faithful in forming their consciences and making prudential judgements of their own.

Part of making prudential judgements, however, is considering carefully the judgements of others, especially those older and wiser--and holier--than we are.

That's where our duty to listen comes into play.

Listening and heeding are not necessarily the same thing. It may be that a faith leader doesn't have all the facts, or that his prudential judgement is flawed. But we do need to listen. Regardless of whether we end up heeding them in prudential matters, regardless of whether they're right or wrong, let's stop condemning our bishops and priests when they speak clearly and forcefully in regard to particulars.

So thank you, Cardinals Tobin and Cupich. Thank you, bishops and priests who speak out on this matter and others. Pray God that many more faith leaders follow your good example. Pray God that we lay faithful have the humility to listen to whatever you have to say.