Christian Compassion

As exemplified by the Roman Catholic hierarchy.

On the one hand, a laudable bit of lobbying by the Catholic Bishops, in which they at least pay lip service to the teachings of Christ:

While many conservatives belittle and mock anyone who takes assistance from the government, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops sent a letter to lawmakers this week urging them not to cut funding for social safety net programs that help the poor, many of which have been targeted by Republican lawmakers in their quest to implement austerity to reduce the budget deficit.

“We fear the pressure to cut vital programs that protect the lives and dignity of the poor and vulnerable will increase,” wrote Bishops Stephen Blaire and Richard Pates, the Chairmen of the Committee on Domestic Justice and the Committee on International Justice, respectively.

Unfortunately for the glow of our shared humanity, this story was still resonating:

The Catholic Diocese of Sacramento no longer will fund programs at Francis House, a nonprofit agency that serves homeless people, because of its new director's views supporting abortion rights and gay marriage.

In a letter last month, the diocese's director of social services said the Rev. Faith Whitmore's public statements on the issues clash with the teachings of the Catholic Church. Therefore, said the Rev. Michael Kiernan, the social services director, it is "impossible for the diocese to continue funding Francis House" as part of its annual Catholic Appeal.

This is perhaps the most appalling part of the story:

In its letter to Whitmore, the Sacramento diocese said it respects the work Francis House does and cannot expect every organization it supports financially to "actively promote Catholic teaching."

"We can expect, however, that they or their leaders not publicly oppose Catholic teaching and that, unfortunately, is the situation in which we find ourselves," the letter reads.

Given that Catholic Charities has closed adoption services in Massachusetts in retaliation for the legalization of same-sex marriage; in Illinois because of having to treat same-sex partners in civil unions the same as married heterosexuals (that is, actually obey the law); and threatened to close all services for the poor in Washington, D.C., trying to strong-arm the City Council into defeating a same-sex marriage bill; not to mention their attempts to deny contraception to every woman of every faith; and now this, I'm afraid I can't take the bishops' letter to Congress as anything more than an empty gesture.

Sorry -- a bully is a bully, no matter how sweet they are to their mothers.

Footnote: As for the hierarchy's stance on same-sex marriage in general, this little rant by Cardinal Keith O'Brien, head of the Catholic Church in Scotland, is choice. It's as good as the pope's latest nonsense:

"Marriage and the family are institutions that must be promoted and defended from every possible misrepresentation of their true nature."

Can someone explain to me how a man who has been celibate for his entire life, at least in theory, knows anything about the "true nature" of marriage? Anyone?