Who Speaks for the Church? by Paul Kengor

By Paul Kengor, Crisis Magazine, July 1, 2021

For a remarkable example of overplaying your hand, not to mention sheer audacity, behold the letter by 60 Catholic Democrats to the U.S. bishops.

It is a surreal document. Reading it leaves one with mouth slightly open, staring and blinking at the page. In asserting its signers’ unrestricted right to advance abortion as “proud” Catholic Democrats “of the living Catholic tradition,” it quotes none other than Pope John Paul II, who preached the Culture of Life and described abortion as murder, as well as the Second Vatican Council. It boldly lectures the bishops on Catholic teaching and “the real nature of the true Church.”

“We solemnly urge you to not move forward and deny this most holy of all sacraments,” states the letter, before instructing the shepherds: “We remind you that the Second Vatican Council renewed emphasis on the Eucharist as the central focus, especially in the Council’s Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy.” …