Worth Revisiting - The Silence Must End: Souls Are Being Lost

Thank you, Allison Gingras at Reconciled To You  and Elizabeth Riordan at Theology Is A Verb  for hosting Worth Revisiting each week. It is a privilege to share our work with you and your followers.

Here is my contribution:

The Silence Must End: Souls Are Being Lost

(Originally posted on June 14, 2011) 

(Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)

[Tragically, very few of our Bishops have overcome their silence and apparent fear to speak the Truth since I published this post more than 8 years ago. Public Catholic figures continue to dissent from Church teaching and no public correction is made. Thousands have left the Church as it continues to rock from scandal and sin. The attack on the gift of human life expands. The moral foundation of our nation is under relentless attack. Yet, the deafening and cowardly silence of our shepherds continues as more souls are forever lost.] 

Enough is enough!

I picked up the local paper recently and saw (not for the first time unfortunately) another headline broadcasting Governor Andrew Cuomo’s on-going aggressive support to legalize gay marriage in New York State. As an individual, he is free to support and believe anything he wishes. As one who purports to be Catholic, however, he can not support legislation which is contrary to God’s law without jeopardizing his eternal soul and potentially the souls of many others. While one can only pray that his Bishop has privately shared this truth with him, it appears that the Governor has ignored that advice.  

Sadly, recent polls show that a majority of those professing to be Catholic in New York State concur with the Governor and see no reason to oppose gay marriage. Many do so out of a false and confused understanding of compassion, justice  and tolerance. How can this be? This issue has been around for years. The reasons why Catholics must enter the public arena and strenuously oppose this legislation are set forth here and here. Why are so many Catholics still woefully ignorant about the Church's teaching on this subject?  Why has the Church failed to properly catechize its flock at the parish level on such a vital issue?

It would be a very simple and relatively inexpensive process (not to mention a spiritual necessity) to include such information in the weekly bulletins of every Catholic Church in this state.  How many of our Bishops have directed their priests to do so? If not, why not?  Archbishop Thomas Dolan has written in defense of marriage and against gay marriage but how many parishes have distributed his comments to their members? Why not?

We have an obligation to lovingly share the truth to those who may not know it. If we intentionally fail to do so, we not only jeopardize the salvation of the person who needed to hear that truth but our own as well. As difficult as it may be, we Catholics, lay, religious and ordained, must heed and follow the advice of St. Therese of Lisieux: “Dislike me for it, if you want, but I will tell you the truth right up until my death.”

Despite the Governor’s assertions to the contrary, this is no longer a private issue, but a public scandal to faithful Catholics. This Catholic politician's frequent public support of legislation contrary to Church teaching and inimical to the best interest of our society requires a public response from our Bishops. The Church's silence on this and other pressing moral issues must end!

Where is its zeal for the salvation of souls?