Is everything clear now?

By Diogenes ( articles ) | Jun 11, 2004

Bishop Skylstad, speaking on behalf of the US bishops, announces:

We can be clear without being blunt. And we can persuade without drawing lines in the sand and daring others to cross. And we can persuade without drawing lines in the sand and daring others to cross.

And the beauty of that approach is: If you don't draw a line, no one can cross it.

Bishop Skylstand was writing, of course, about the issue of whether pro-abortion Catholics should receive Communion. In answering that question, he said:

Let me be very clear: as Church we are profoundly serious about human life, every human life on the continuum of earthly existence; its worth and dignity; that each human life, from conception to natural death, is a gift from God and precious in God’s sight. The value of a human life is God’s judgment, not ours. The Church teaches consistently that human life is to be cherished and protected against threats, particularly the lives of those most vulnerable: the pre-born; the ill; the aged; the poor. The immigrant, the sorrowing, the confused, the misunderstood. We are all God’s unique creations, we are all beloved by God, we are all children of God, we are all precious. God depends on us to defend and protect one another.

Well, he's definitely not blunt.