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Purple Catholic Saturday Post
Good morning and happy Saturday.
Since 1954, the Johnson Amendment has been interpreted to prevent Churches and other nonprofit organizations from participating in political campaigns or endorsing candidates. That changed on Monday. The Internal Revenue Service announced in a court filing that they are no longer reading the provision in the same light.
Instead, when religious congregations speak to its members, “through its customary channels of communication on matters of faith in connection with religious services, concerning electoral politics viewed through the lens of religious faith” it is not participating or intervening in a campaign. The IRS likens such speech as a “family discussion.”
In its conclusion, the IRS said, “Thus, communications from a house of worship to its congregation in connection with religious services through its usual channels of communication on matters of faith do not run afoul of the Johnson Amendment as properly interpreted.”
For its part, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) announced this week that they will not be endorsing political candidates and that the “Church seeks to help Catholics form their conscience in the Gospel so they might discern which candidates and policies would advance the common good.”
I believe this is the right call. As I have discussed here and on other platforms, being a Catholic in America is difficult and we cannot solely devote ourselves to one political party or another. In order to properly promote all of the teachings of the Church, we often times find ourselves having to pick and choose.
Now, since the USCCB cannot tell bishops in the United States what to do, the decision on whether to allow individual clergy (or perhaps even bishops) to make endorsements lies with the local bishop. The primary challenge will be now (as it has been as of late) a matter of obedience.
Take this scenario for example: a bishop tells his priests not to endorse political candidates from the pulpit, in any sort of communications from the parish, individually to parishioners, or on social media. The order is a valid order; it does not violate faith or morals. It does not restrict a priest’s ability to preach on sensitive subjects. It also technically doesn’t say that a priest cannot announce who he is voting for. It simply tells him not to endorse one candidate over another.
If Fr. John chooses to violate that order and endorse a candidate in the Sunday bulletin, what is the appropriate action from the bishop? On the extreme end, he could be removed from his parish, or, more likely, he might get a stern talking to. The decision by the priest puts the bishop in a very difficult position; in either case, he will seem like (to some) that he is restricting the priest from “preaching the truth.”
This is one of the practical reasons that priests make a vow of obedience to the bishop (and his successors) when he is ordained. He is promising that he will serve under the bishop's authority and collaborate in the diocese’s pastoral work. From a more spiritual point of view, he is, in a sense, rejecting personal ambition (be it fame, fortune, or anything of the sort).
I will be very interested to see if any bishops decide to make changes to how priests discuss political candidates in church. I doubt that hardly any will decide to explicitly allow their priests to make endorsements. And perhaps the better observation is to see what is done about priests who do.
N.b. Clergy are forbidden under Canon Law to hold public office or have an “active part in political parties,” unless the proper authority deems it necessary to protect the rights of the Chuch and for the common good.
For more:
Tomorrow on Death Comes for the Archbishop:
Bishop Jean Marie Latour and Fr. Joseph Vaillant save a woman from a murderous thief and Franz Klein sets the record straight on literary criticism.
Paying subscribers get access tomorrow; everyone else will receive it on Wednesday.
Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
This Sunday at Mass, we will hear from Deuteronomy 30:10-14, Psalm 69 or Psalm 19, Colossians 1:15-20, and Luke 10:25-37.
Here is a calendar for the rest of the week:
Monday, 14 July - Memorial of St. Kateri Tekakwitha, virgin*
Tuesday, 15 July - Memorial of St. Bonaventure, bishop and doctor
Wednesday, 16 July - Memorial of Our Lady of Mount Carmel (optional)
Friday, 18 July - Memorial of St. Camillus de Lellis, priest (optional)**
*In dioceses in the United States
**Moved from 14 July in dioceses in the United States to make way for St. Kateri Tekakwitha
It is the spirit that gives life, the flesh is of no avail; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.
John 6:63
In the news:
The United States
Diocese of Grand Rapids, Michigan to restructure - Catholic News Agency
Our choices make us who we are - Stephen P. White in the Catholic Thing
AI has hallucinations; despite that, these lawyers decided to use it for a court filing - NPR
The Vatican
Pope meets with Ukrainian President - Vatican News
Pope Leo XIV: Artificial Intelligence is putting humanity at a crossroads - Crux
The World
Catholic University in Erbil looks ahead to 10-year anniversary - Vatican News
Japanese bishops decry execution of ‘Twitter killer,’ urge end to death penalty - LiCAS News
Have a good weekend,
Matthew