UPDATED: Just For The Record, Canadian Bishops Regularly Get Involved In Political Activism

From the (Canadian) Catholic Register:

OTTAWA - The Canadian government should urge Israel to stop construction of a section of its security wall that threatens the livelihood of 58 Christian families and a Catholic religious order, said the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) in a letter to Canada's foreign affairs minister.

…

(Gatineau Archbishop Paul-André Durocher, CCCB president)…recently participated, along with several other bishops from around the world, in a tour of the affected area. The matter is urgent, he said, because the Supreme Court of Israel has begun hearings on the legality of the Cremisan Valley wall. The Cremisan Valley is located on the Palestinian side of the so-called Green Line, the pre-1967 demarcation line separating Israel from Gaza, the West Bank and the Golan Heights. It is currently part of the lands occupied by Israel.

This story indicates that no individual or group was in imminent danger of life or limb. However, a number of Christian families and a Catholic religious order were likely to be seriously disturbed. It appears that Archbishop Durocher toured this Middle East site with other Bishops from around the world so there was significant attention paid to this concern. The Bishops apparently “believe the wall as planned will only deepen the wounds between Palestinians and Israelis.”

Fair enough. It seems like a “social justice” matter and we should always try to address these issues as they arise and ensure the best outcomes for our fellow man. Logically, I think we could all agree that addressing social justice issues would demand of our Bishops some mechanism respecting proportionality and priority. 

Is it right for Catholic Bishops to wade into political waters and exert their influence? You bet.

So currently, should the Canadian Bishops be preoccupied with any other urgent social justice initiatives?

UPDATE: 

January 2, 2014

Canadian bishops will continue to oppose prostitution despite ruling

 

April 8, 2014

CCCB President participates in International Conference on Human Trafficking

An Evening With Archbishop Currie Of St. John's NL In Support Of Social Justice

Recently, the Archdiocese of St. John’s promoted tickets for An Evening with the Archbishop in support of the Archbishop’s Annual Appeal. This event took place at Holiday Inn, Portugal Cove Road on Wednesday, May 15, 2013 and comprised a Dinner and Auction with proceeds , according to the headline, “Supporting Social Justice and Community Outreach”. Tickets were $200.00 per person.

I held a sign vigil outside Holiday Inn that evening, holding the signs shown in the picture above. I was hoping to catch the attention especially of those who were attending the event, in the hopes that during the course of the evening and the dinner conversation, some of those present might remember that the greatest social justice cause of our day is the legalized killing of unborn children. Of course it is possible that during the dinner event the Archbishop might have reminded the guests of that fact and perhaps there was even a prayer said for those little children destroyed by abortion.

However, considering the record of the past as well as events leading up to recent days, I assumed the status quo of silence on abortion in our Archdiocese would prevail and so I hoped to prevent the hijacking of the term “social justice” which has become so fashionable by those both inside and outside the Church.

The Archdiocesan website recently posted video and pictures of the Archbishop’s Dinner and Auction Event. The video clip is quite short and the Archbishop’s comments as recorded in the video are brief. Note that Archbishop Currie makes special mention of those who are sick and those who are in prison. Whether there were other relevant public statements made at the event I do not know but the message from the video can be comprehensively stated, almost verbatim, in this short paragraph:

Because of your generosity we can continue our work in the community. We are making an effort to build up our financial situation so we can reach out to our community. Become a partner with us, caring for those in need, for the sick, the imprisoned, and university students. That’s what we are all about; as a church and as people we care for one another, especially those who are the most vulnerable…those who are sick. A society is judged by how we care for the weakest members. So thank you for your participation for coming this evening and for beings partners with us.

In trying to assess the value or power of any church, pro-life,  or “social justice” initiative or event, I always like to ponder what might be the likely reaction—the thoughts and feelings—of the aborted child to the initiative in question.

How empty and hollow must it sound to hear the rhetoric that a society is judged by how we care for the weakest members, and then misrepresent altogether those same weakest and most vulnerable individuals who are being quite literally killed and trashed by a law we as a society institute and sustain. The conversation above—like so many “social justice” conversations—makes it seem as though no such horror is present in our society. Legalized abortion is a buried tragedy, a cover-up of vast proportions.

The aborted child screams out: Lie! You lie! And we die! Remember Us! We are the most vulnerable! We are the poor! We are the sick! We are in prison! Help us! Save us! We are the children of God, we are “the least of these my brothers”! We have no voice but yours! Why are you so silent?