OSV: What an Obama presidency means for Catholics by Russell Shaw
Ignatius Scoop today links to a sobering article written by Russell Shaw for the 16th November issue of "Our Sunday Visitor ." It is an essential article for U.S. Catholics. One portion is germane to the meeting of Bishops in Baltimore beginning November 10th: In a nutshell, the problem is this: While some Catholics who voted for Obama no doubt agonized about backing a strongly pro-abortion candidate, millions of others evidently voted this way without any qualms. According to exit polls, McCain got just over half of white Catholics' votes, down 13 percent from George W. Bush's showing in 2004. Obama's gain among these Catholics was said to be mainly among those who don't attend Mass weekly. What can the bishops do? Clearly, they aren't of a mind directly to oppose pro-abortion candidates in the future -- for fear of losing the Church's tax-exempt status, because they believe it would conflict with their role as religious teachers, and because doi