Eagle-eyed America readers and church observers will have noticed that two America authors have been selected for leadership roles by Pope Benedict. Blase Cupich, a frequent contributor to our pages, and formerly the bishop of Rapid City, S.D., has been named Bishop of Spokane, Washington. And Msgr. Robert McElroy, formerly pastor of St. Gregory's in San Mateo and the author of The Search for an American Public Theology: The Role of John Courtney Murrayand Morality and American Foreign Policy: The Role of Ethics in International Affairs, has been named an auxiliary bishop of San Francisco. Bishop Cupich most recently wrote for
us "Twelve Things the Bishops Have Learned from the Sexual Abuse Crisis," and "Serious Thinking" on Caritas in Veritate. Msgr. McElroy wrote "Why We Must Withdraw from Iraq" (in 2007) and "We Hold These Truths," on John Courtney Murray, SJ. Of course writing for America is not without its danger: one article that Msgr. McElroy wrote in 2005, a learned and thoughtful piece that we featured as cover story, "Prudence and Eucharistic Sanctions" is already drawing fire from the right-wing, specifically Lifesite News, which accused him of "criticizing Catholic church policy." Michael Sean Winters dissects the tempest here at NCR.
For our part, we congratulate Bishop Cupich and Bishop-elect McElroy. Ad multos annos. And when you get a chance, ad multos articles for our magazine.
James Martin, SJ
http://www.calcatholic.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?id=00c59b1f-555a-435e-8af8-3a8f98fd7adf
For bishops, priests and politicians who approve of abortion in special cases, and I suspect there are many, the fate of medical professionals who try to adhere to the dictates of their consciences is of little consequence. Please, however, be aware of the real persecution of medical personnel that is happening out there, and don't shove our concerns under the blanket and brand us as of no importance, or our concerns of less importance than our political fellow ''Catholics''. Life is hard enough as it is, and the prejudice of our fellow ''co-religionists'' doubles our burden in trying to act responsibly in conformity with our beliefs.