U.S. Catholic Bishops Call For 'Honest Dialogue' On Iraq

Team Infidel

Forum Spin Doctor
Washington Post
November 14, 2006
Pg. 15

By Alan Cooperman, Washington Post Staff Writer
BALTIMORE, Nov. 13 -- The president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said Monday that the United States should keep its troops in Iraq only as long as they are contributing to a "responsible transition" to Iraqi rule.
Bishop William S. Skylstad of Spokane, Wash., noted that both the U.S. bishops and top Vatican officials sharply questioned the decision to invade Iraq in 2003. As a result of the invasion, he said, the United States now has "additional moral responsibilities" to help Iraqis secure and rebuild their country.
In a four-page statement authorized by the entire body of bishops but issued in his name alone, Skylstad called for Americans to move beyond the "shrill and shallow" preelection rhetoric that "reduces the options to 'cut and run' versus 'stay the course.' " He said the nation needs an "honest dialogue" that acknowledges past mistakes, recognizes positive developments and seeks agreement on concrete steps.
The statement came as the Bush administration and the soon-to-be Democratic-controlled Congress reexamine U.S. policy in Iraq, and as the bishops primarily are focused on internal church matters, including deep cuts in their budgets and staffs.
Their agenda for three days of meetings in Baltimore this week includes statements reaffirming church teachings on contraception, Holy Communion and homosexuality. But it originally did not contain any discussion of Iraq, leading some bishops to wonder aloud whether they were avoiding the most important moral issue facing the country.
In an opening address, Archbishop Pietro Sambi, the new Vatican ambassador to the United States, said there has been a "loss of credibility in the church" because of the actions of a "small but very damaging number of its ministers and its faithful."
By a unanimous voice vote, the bishops approved spending $335,000 for research of the "causes and context" of the clergy sex abuse scandal in the church. The study will be conducted by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, which previously researched the scope of the problem and concluded that nearly 5,000 U.S. priests and deacons have molested more than 12,500 minors since 1950.
 
By a unanimous voice vote, the bishops approved spending $335,000 for research of the "causes and context" of the clergy sex abuse scandal in the church. The study will be conducted by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, which previously researched the scope of the problem and concluded that nearly 5,000 U.S. priests and deacons have molested more than 12,500 minors since 1950.

I can help the US bishops save $335,000 by giving them a three part answer to their question "causes and context" for free.

1. The bishops are the problem. Helping and hiding countless sex abuses - in some cases the abusers were boyfriends of bishops.

2. Homosexuality. Most of the 12,500 "minors" were mid to late teenage boys (15 -17 year olds). Boys were the exclusive choice (not girls/females) of the adult male clergy.

3. Liberalism - so often endorsed and practiced by a majority of the US bishops. We are now all paying the price for the liberal attitudes and excesses of the baby-boomer generation.

.... I hasten to add (1) 98 per cent of Catholic clergy are not so inclined and keep their vows/promises of chastity - and have wonderful records of helping people; (2) 90 per cent of pedophiles are married (not celibate) men.
 
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