During his recent visit to Rome, Bishop Robert McElroy of San Diego gave a wide-ranging, exclusive interview to America’s Vatican correspondent.
….What would you hope for from the November meeting of the U.S. Bishops’ Conference in light of what the pope said?
I would hope for a couple of outcomes from the November meeting. One, there has been a lot of discussion pointing to the reality that the bishops are seeking to have a eucharistic revival. This would be a major initiative of the church to spiritually energize our understanding of, participation in and love for the Eucharist. That is the primary goal regarding the Eucharist for the conference at this moment, and the discussions in November about the particular form of statement that will emerge at this point from the conference are secondary to that revival. The proposed statement for November will inevitably get caught up in partisan debates that detract from the beauty, the dignity and the prayerfulness of the Eucharist. It’s the project of a eucharistic revival that’s important.
The proposed statement for November will inevitably get caught up in partisan debates that detract from the beauty, the dignity and the prayerfulness of the Eucharist.
….I think the pope is saying to us is that our primary role is to be pastors to all our people. We are witnesses to truth in the wider society, but prior to that, we are called to be pastors to our people. That involves witnessing to the truth in its fullness. But it also involves seeing the real-life situations that people have, seeing the political choices that they have in their lives and how they are very often constrained, and how the effort to read the Gospel into the political life of our country is complicated. In voting for candidates, we do not have pure choices, where it’s clear that all of the common good or most of the common good falls on one side or the other.
….Our overwhelming message at this point needs to be inviting people to the Eucharist, with the understanding that all of us have significant failures as we approach the altar, but those are not disqualifying. If we multiply the disqualifications [to Communion], then I think we are being less true to our identity as pastors, and we’re becoming just more abstract with reasoning that leads away from asking what Christ would do in this situation.
….I say this with some frequency: The bishops of our conference are fundamentally in agreement on the substance of the major political issues that face us in our country. It is on the prioritization that the friction comes, and that is where I think our dilemmas are. Very few of us disagree on the fundamental thrust of where we should go on immigration, abortion, euthanasia, religious liberty or poverty. There’s just no substantive disagreement on this.
But on the question of how citizens or believers should prioritize those issues, that is where frictions come in among us because it lets the partisan divide in. The prioritization that we engage in by using terms like “pre-eminent” actually invites partisanship into the heart of the church, even as it encroaches upon the legitimate realm of conscience for believers seeking to choose candidates who will advance the common good.
The above comes from the Oct. 7 issue of American magazine.
does bishop mcelroy ever talk about sin or repentance or salvation or eternal life? he talks like the church is just a political action group, not concerned with the salvation of souls, not concerned with anything supernatural or eternal. if anything is “pre-eminent” it’s salvation, not american political theater.
I am sure if they had asked him a question about those subjects he would have talked about them.
He is talking about the Gospel and Eucharistic renewal. He is not talking about politics at all. Read the article.
Have we become so narcissistic that we only approve of people who say what we want when we want them to?
protecting the Eucharist from profanation is not partisanship.
Sorry, drewelow, my finger slipped, trying to give you a “thumbs up”– I tried too hard, and ended up with a wrong “thumbs down!” It worked okay to give a “thumbs up” for the first entry, by “truth.” These “thumbs” do not always work– I won’t try again until this “gadget” is fixed!
Hidden in plain sight is this cleric’s machinations to absolve errant Catholic politicians from their sins against humanity.
No problem with Big Mac if people approach Holy Communion with unconfessed/unrepented mortal sin. Communion is all about love… I wonder if he believes in the Real Presence.
Politicking invites partisanship.
Luke 11:43 Woe to you, Pharisees, because you love the uppermost seats in the synagogues, and salutations in the marketplace.
OTOH, if you’re a concerned parent petitioning to meet with our Bishop to discuss masks in San Diego Catholic schools, no Accompaniment for you.
.
McElroy & America magazine, fair to discuss whether either really are Catholic and what motivates them to call themselves such.
Why McElroy has apparently become the go-to spokesman for the USCCB is beyond me.
He is a successor to the apostles, But it is hard to see any St. Paul in him. How do we look to bishops like this for guidance?
It is appropriate that this blah blah blah appears ti America magazine.
“pre-eminent” actually invites partisanship into the heart of the church, Yes and thank God it does,,,
I think it was there already.
So let’s say this bishop is about to robbed or some other serious crime that places his life in immediate jerpordy. The police are called but before they go they have to stop and check on a report of trash being dumped into the river. Which call has premence here? Which call would the bishop desire to be preminent?
Bishop McElroy, take off the purple cassock and the clericals. You are first and foremost a Democrat Party shill-meister. Washington, D.C. should be your next post. Not as Archbishop but DNC lobbyist.
The prince prelate of partisanship himself calls terms like “pre-eminent” and “intrinsic evils” partisan. What does that even mean?!
What political party is “intrinsically evil” or promotes intrinsic evils in their Party platform. (Well, OK, one major party does with at least one intrinsic evil.)
Is the bishop not pre-eminent in the leadership of his diocese? If he is so, he should tell us what type of partisan he is.
Christ is preeminent. (For one example: See Colossians 1:15-19.) Is the bishop implying that our Lord Himself is partisan?
Our Lord is, in His own words, divisive at times. “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth.I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.” (See Matthew 10:34-39.)
Do the faithful in San Diego have to wear masks or maintain “social distance?” Why is the bishop maskless and within inches of the Pope? Shouldn’t he provide good example for the faithful?
Honestly people, I don’t know why some of you are up-in-arms about what this Bishop is saying. He’s only being honest. The fact that many of you people would like the American bishops to deny Holy Communion to Biden, Pelosi, and the rest of the pro-abortion Democrats is partly because of partisanship. For you people it’s not really about being pro-life (otherwise you people would have joined me in denouncing the death penalty a long time ago, for instance). No, for many of the habitués of this blog, it’s “pre-eminently” about politics, about “punishing” the Democrats (speaking as a non-Democrat here), about partisanship. It’s only “secondary” for you lot that abortion is about protecting the life of the unborn; only secondary that it’s about preventing the unworthy reception of Holy Communion.
Jon, there you go again judging others’ motives. Stop it, I say, just stop it. It is intellectually dishonest and ethically impoverished. For God’s sake stop it.
I am not so much judging people’s motives here as I am interpreting what this Bishop meant. Now if McElroy happens to have identified correctly the motives of many here, then the credit goes to him, not to me.
Don’t need you to interpret anything for us Jon, too bad you don’t care how insulting that is.
If you don’t like jon’s posts, offer it up.
Your name, man…says a lot.
If he is getting under your skin…it is your skin. Take him out.
You should be able to handle someone saying something you disagree with. You should be able to handle insults (turn the other cheek, remember.)
Figure out why it triggers you and you usually will find that the Lord wants you to love or forgive, abandon self, walk away or just refocus on Him.
Anyone receiving Holy Communion while not in a state of grace commits sacrilege, regardless of political affiliation. High profile people who do this also add scandal to the mix, and again, it’s not a matter of party politics.
McElroy has it wrong and so does jon. Attempting to save someone from eternal punishment should be applauded, not disparaged.
@ jon … if you say “you people” one more time …..
jon, I have spoken out against capital punishment and euthanasia. I am prolife, not just anti-abortion. And, I do not wish to punish Mrs. Pelosi, Mr. Biden or Mr. Newsom. I pray for their conversion of heart and an end to their complicity in the killing of millions of babies and the violation of their mothers. Protecting babies and their mothers, concern for souls, restoring respect for life and not having the Blessed Sacrament scandalously profaned are my motivations. You requested honesty and that’s honestly my response, as I think it may well be for most who read California Catholic Daily. I have spent vastly more time praying, protesting and talking with people in front of abortion clinics than in any kind of political activity. The magnitude of abortion happening in virtually every community is why most who are prolife start there. Let’s protect all lives, from conception until natural death. By God’s grace, may we save as many as we can. “Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter.” (Prov. 24:11) See also what our Lord says in Matt. 25:31-46.
What is a patriotic rosary? A friend is trying to get me to go to one next month. She said it came from Mary for the healing of America.
It is a special praying of the Rosary specifically for the USA. It comes from Caritas of Birmingham which is associated with believers in Our Lady of Peace apparitions at Medjugorje. Those apparitions are still unapproved.
The prayers are online. It is claimed to be inspired by Mary.
I think you should pray to Her for guidance and ask your pastor.
I attended a rosary prayer group once and became very concerned about an evil that was insinuating itself among them.
I prayed the prayer to St. Michael. There was improvement. I did not continue to attend though.
Red and Redderer.
It’s clear to me, based on his track record or statements and actions, that McElroy is a pharisee.
I would called him an apostate.
Do you know what the word apostate means?