OK, I’ve officially had it!
(. . . with the US Conference of Catholic Bishops)
I’m interrupting my series on Catholic in America to get this off my chest.
In my view, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops are not meeting the seriousness of this moment. Our country is in crisis, and they could choose to speak out strongly on any number of deeply disturbing events:
- The assassination of Minnesota State Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark, by an ostensible man of God.
- The presence of American soldiers in Los Angeles to suppress demonstrations, a presence that seemed to make the demonstrations there even worse.
- The persecution and deportation of undocumented individuals as criminals when they are mostly people who take jobs in the farming, hospitality and healthcare industries - industries that would be unable to function without their presence.
- The fact that the Big, Beautiful (budget) Bill currently under consideration in the US Congress is a thinly veiled effort to cut taxes for corporations and the wealthy at the expense of the poor and the most vulnerable among us.
- The expansion of wars and violence to more and more areas of the world – including the US bombing of Iran over the weekend.
But instead of calling the Catholic faithful and all people of goodwill to reject violence in all its forms, the USCCB was busy this past weekend calling US Catholics to focus on a “higher,” more worthy, ecclesial purpose.
Let me lay it out plainly for you.
For the past year+ the USCCB has been promoting a Eucharistic Renewal. The purpose of this was to re-educate US Catholics about the “real presence of Christ” in the host given out at communion during the Mass. Dioceses all over the US have been asking their parishioners to attend educational sessions, go to conferences and re-dedicate themselves to devotion of the Holy Eucharist. And this past weekend, June 21/22, parishes in dioceses all over the US staged special processions honoring the Eucharist, and many sermons were given on this topic.
Don’t get me wrong, I believe in devotion to the Eucharist. But at this moment - when troops have been occupying LA; when vulnerable individuals who are guilty of nothing more than overstaying their visas are being terrorized and denied due process; and when assassinating political opponents you disagree with is a new front in the gun-violence epidemic sickening our country - the most urgent action the USCCB wants Catholics to take is to process around their churches to venerate the Eucharist?
If this is the best the US Church can do, is it any wonder that it is languishing?
A report released June 16, 2025, by The Pew Research Center stated that although only 20% of Americans consider themselves Catholic, a full 49% of Americans have a connection to the Catholic Church. They are former Catholics, or “cultural” Catholics (who go to Mass on Christmas or Easter) or a have a parent, a partner, or a family member who practices the Faith. I was very disappointed when on Easter – a day when so many of these occasional Catholics attend Mass with their families - the US Catholic Church took up its usual collection for the Clergy Retirement Fund. What if instead they had called for a special collection for Catholic Relief Services, which had just lost major funding for work providing food, medical care, and other vital services around the globe. What a missed opportunity for Catholics to show what we really care about!
These are not normal times. The USCCB has to pivot, to reject the day-to-day cruelty against perceived outsiders, the heedless abandonment of the less fortunate, the helpless acceptance of violence, to call Americans, especially Catholic Americans, to do better. I am so sick of the “on the one hand, on the other hand” false equivalency that passes for debate today - even in the Church. There are not two sides to evil!
Thank God we have Pope Leo to call the US Bishops and US Catholics to conscience. His Saturday, June 14th event live streamed from the Vatican to his native Chicago community could not have been better timed or more needed. The contrast between his humble and inspiring message to US Catholics and the travesty that went on in Washington, DC that day could not have been more stark.
We are in trouble in this moment in our nation’s history. The US Catholic Church must testify boldly to the message of Jesus Christ – to care for the poor and most vulnerable, to love others as ourselves, and to resist violence in all its forms. If the US Conference of Catholic Bishops cannot provide clear and convincing moral leadership in this moment, I wonder what their purpose is.
Dear Holy Spirit, give us leaders in the US Catholic Church who can testify to our call to follow Jesus – to be peacemakers and consolers, to be generous, humble, and forgiving people who follow him in deed and not just in word. Help me to do my part. AMEN
This post is a standout among the many excellent pieces of commentary on Catholic on the Edge. I am sharing it far and wide. Please keep writing and insisting that all of us, Catholics and others, hold our leaders (both elected and clergy) accountable for using their influence on behalf of ALL of us.
PREACH! I've been saying for DECADES that USCCB is fond of issuing statements, but not DOING anything ( and sometimes not even following their own preaching). I am heartened by the ACTIONS of Bishop Pham of San Diego, recently appointed by Pope Leo, and not even officially installed yet. He and others recently attended hearings at the local immigration center. It was reported that just their PRESENCE led to immigrants being treated in a more civilized manner. May he inspire others. I do believe in the Eucharist as God's presence with us and that we are in need of a Eucharistic miracle. We need to approach our current world situation with every possible means. Our words mean more accompanied by action and our actions mean more connected with prayer.