It's a tough topic to discuss, if only because, as you noted Lus, Bishop Martino isn't the most popular of spiritual leaders in the area, and you need to separate the man (Joseph Martino) from his office (Bishop of the Diocese of Scranton).

I respect Bishop Martino for having and expressing his convictions as a spiritual leader, but I do wonder why he seems to "cherry pick" some of these convictions. For example, he has said that he would not allow a pro-choice candidate to receive Communion, but yet he has no problem allowing pro-dealth penalty candidates that same priviledge. Case in point is Rick Santorum. Now you could argue that there is a very big difference between killing the unborn and executing a criminal, but that's not exactly how the church sees it.

While the vast majority of U.S. Catholics support capital punishment, Pope John Paul II has declared the Church's near total opposition to the death penalty. In his encyclical "Evangelium Vitae" (The Gospel of Life) issued March 25, 1995 after four years of consultations with the world's Roman Catholic bishops, John Paul II wrote that execution is only appropriate "in cases of absolute necessity, in other words, when it would not be possible otherwise to defend society. Today, however, as a result of steady immprovement in the organization of the penal system, such cases are very rare, if not practically nonexistent." Until this encyclical, the death penalty was viewed as sometimes permissible as a means of protecting society.

As noted in the quote, the above is from "Evangelium Vitae".

So for me, the issue isn't that Bishop Martino stands in opposition to abortion, it's that he chooses to look the other way when it comes to other issues facing the Church. This crates at least the tacid appearance of support for candidates of one particular party. The same could be said for his opposition to the unionization of teachers in the Diocese: he cherry picks the Church teachings that support his position, and ignores or downplays the rest, all the while demanding complete and total obedience on the part of his flock.

Now I was raised a Catholic...I was an Altar Boy for over ten years, I attended Catholic high school and I was even the President of the Campus Catholic Student's group in college. However I don't currenlty consider myself an active member of the Church. For me, I've just seen too much hypocrisy of late. I know, as a Catholic, I need to view the Church not as Bishop Martino or (for example) de-frocked priest Albert Liberatore, but as a collection of the faithful. That's easier said than done though, for reasons such as...

I read the actions of Bishop Martino when it comes to his public pronouncements about pro-vs-anti choice and I hear the actions of a staunch partisan politician.

I read the actions of Bishop Martino when it comes the unionization of teachers and I hear the actions of someone who might as well be an executive working for Walmart.

I read the actions of Bishop Martino when it comes to school and parish closings, and I hear the actions of a corporate raider, hell bent of reducing corporate costs at all costs, refusing to even discuss how these actions with those most directly impacted.

In all of these examples I'm seeing Joseph Martino the man...a politician and a businessman...not a spiritual leader. That's probably more my issue than an issue for Joseph Martino. However that's also why my faith in the Catholic Church has been pretty severely dented. How can I follow someone who seems more interested in the exercise of his authority than anything else? I know that all leaders have to make tough decisions, but in my opinion a spiritual leader should be more than just a "my way or the highway" executive bully.

-- Edited by Agamemnon at 22:28, 2008-10-06

Free Speech does't require a multi-paragrah disclaimer Mr. Pilchesky.