On Saturday Bishop Morlino was on EWTN’s The World Over, responding to questions about the parish in Platteville, Congressman Paul Ryan, what he as a former Jesuit thinks of Jesuit Georgetown U inviting HHS Secretary and dissenting Catholic Kathleen Sebelius as a graduation speaker, and whether the bishops’ statements on other issues water down the critical message about religious freedom. The interview begins at 24:24 on this video:
The final question for Bishop Morlino is regarding a much commented upon recent editorial by Phil Lawler. Lawler’s argument was that the bishops are “perhaps overwhelming or taxing their moral voice, and that this “may be harming their campaign for religious liberty.” Bishop Morlino responds:
Well I think that Phil Lawler’s judgement is not unreasonable, let me say that; in fact we have to be able to multi-task, because all of these issues are crying out. It’s not as though really the bishops or the Church are looking to raise issues to the public eye. In most of these cases what’s happening is these issues are being thrown at us and it would be irresponsible for us not to respond, so I think that what we’re doing is, trying to fulfill our responsibility to respond to what our culture and our society and our legislators put on our table. But I think with all of that we we can still insist that since freedom of religion and freedom of conscience are so basic, that certainly they deserve top priority, and I think they will get top priority. What might actually happen, how this might work from the point of view of sociology and political science, how this might work, I of course can’t be sure. But I am hoping it will work out for the best, and I’m hoping that the Holy Spirit will really be with us, and I trust that the Holy Spirit will be with us, so that our concern about religious liberty and religious freedom, freedom of conscience, will not somehow be put on any back burner.