Weigel: A Pastoral Opportunity Lost?

on December 26, 2012
George Weigel
(Photo credit: Thomas Center)

By George Weigel

At their annual November meeting, the U.S. bishops failed to approve a pastoral message on the economy. “The Hope of the Gospel in Difficult Economic Times” was approved by a clear majority of the bishops voting, but objections raised in large part by retired bishops were sufficient to deny the document the supermajority it needed.

All of which strikes me as a lost opportunity.

No doubt the draft document could have been improved; any ecclesial document can be improved (if you doubt that, try reading Vatican II’s “Decree on the Means of Social Communication” without taking a long winter’s nap). What was so striking about “The Hope of the Gospel in Difficult Economic Times,” however, was that it was different: it was the work of pastors, not policy wonks; it anchored its reflections in the gospel, not in the dismal science; and in a public environment becoming ever more secular, it used terms like “sin” and “virtue” to describe our present circumstances, what led us into them, and what might lead us into a better future.

Read the full article at First Things.

  1. Comment by arimathean on December 27, 2012 at 8:03 pm

    The First Things link does not work.

  2. Comment by theird on December 28, 2012 at 10:40 am

    @Arimathean, thank you for comment! We just updated the link.

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