Denver archbishop criticizes CHA 'counter-witness' against bishops on health care

Denver, Colo., Mar 22, 2010 / 15:14 pm

In his weekly column for the Denver Catholic Register, Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Denver lists several “lessons” Catholics can take from the the health care debates over the past several months.  He notes that the legislation “remains unethical and defective” and expresses his disappointment at the Catholic Health Association's “damaging” efforts in opposing the bishops and supporting the bill.

The first lesson that can be drawn from the recent health care discussions, the prelate explains, is that the Senate bill passed by the House of Representatives “is a failure of decent lawmaking” and remains “unethical and defective on all of the issues pressed by the U.S. bishops and prolife groups for the past seven months.”

The Senate bill was passed in the House 219-212 on Sunday evening after President Obama promised Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) that he would issue an executive order banning the federal funding of abortion if Stupak and his pro-life Democratic allies would support the legislation.

Archbishop Chaput points out in his column that although the president promised an executive order, the bill still has problems, “which is why the bishops did not -- and still do not – see it as a real solution.”

“Executive Orders can be rescinded or reinterpreted at any time. Some current congressional leaders have already shown a pattern of evasion, ill will and obstinacy on the moral issues involved in this legislation, and the track record of the White House in keeping its promises regarding abortion-related issues does not inspire confidence,” the archbishop cautions.

“The fact that congressional leaders granted this one modest and inadequate concession only at the last moment, and only to force the passage of this deeply flawed bill, should give no one comfort,” he adds.  

Archbishop Chaput also highlights how the “combination of pressure and disinformation used to break the prolife witness on this bill among Democratic members of Congress – despite the strong resistance to this legislation that continues among American voters – should put an end to any talk by Washington leaders about serving the common good or seeking common ground.”

“At many points over the past seven months, congressional leaders could have resolved the serious moral issues inherent in this legislation.  They did not.  No shower of reassuring words now can wash away that fact.”

The archbishop then laments the harm done by “self-described 'Catholic' groups,” that “ have done a serious disservice to justice, to the Church, and to the ethical needs of the American people by undercutting the leadership and witness of their own bishops.”  He notes that for “groups like Catholics United, this is unsurprising.  In their effect, if not in formal intent, such groups exist to advance the interests of a particular political spectrum.  Nor is it newsworthy from an organization like Network, which – whatever the nature of its good work -- has rarely shown much enthusiasm for a definition of 'social justice' that includes the rights of the unborn child.”

However, he continues, “the actions of the Catholic Health Association (CHA) in providing a deliberate public counter-message to the bishops were both surprising and profoundly disappointing; and also genuinely damaging.

“In the crucial final days of debate on health-care legislation, CHA lobbyists worked directly against the efforts of the American bishops in their approach to members of Congress.  The bad law we now likely face, we owe in part to the efforts of the Catholic Health Association and similar 'Catholic' organizations.” 

Addressing the efforts of the faithful in his archdiocese, the Denver archbishop notes that “many thousands of ordinary, faithful Catholics, from both political parties, have worked hard over the past seven months to advance sensible, legitimate health-care reform; the kind that serves the poor and protects the rights of the unborn child, and immigrants, and the freedom of conscience rights of health-care professionals and institutions.  If that effort seems to have failed, faithful Catholics don’t bear the blame.  That responsibility lies elsewhere.”

“I’m grateful to everyone in the archdiocese who has worked so hard on this issue out of love for God’s people and fidelity to their Catholic faith.  Come good or bad, that kind of effort is never wasted.”

To read Archbishop Chaput's full column, visit: http://www.archden.org/index.cfm/ID/3631.