Moderate Catholics finally pushing back

http://www.chron.com/opinion/outlook/article/Dionne-Moderate-Catholics-finally-pushing-back-3584182.php

By E.J. Dionne Jr.
Updated 07:42 p.m., Thursday, May 24, 2012

There is a healthy struggle brewing among the nation's Roman Catholic bishops. A previously silent group, upset over conservative colleagues defining the church's public posture and eagerly picking fights with President Obama, has had enough.

The headlines this week were about lawsuits brought by 43 Catholic organizations, including 13 dioceses, to overturn regulations issued by the administration requiring insurance plans to cover contraception under the new health care law. But the other side of this news was also significant: That the vast majority of the nation's 195 dioceses did not go to court.

It turns out that many bishops, notably the leadership in California, saw the litigation as premature. They are upset that the lawsuits were brought without a broader discussion among the entire membership of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and wanted to delay action until the conference's June meeting.

Until now, bishops who believed that their leadership was aligning the church too closely with the political right had voiced their doubts internally. While the more moderate bishops kept their qualms out of public view, conservative bishops have been outspoken in condemning the Obama administration and pushing a "Fortnight for Freedom" campaign aimed at highlighting "threats to religious freedom, both at home and abroad."

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