Latest / The Catholic Current / LTACL: Bishops + Slogans = ??? (Fr. Robert McTeigue, S.J.)

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LTACL: Bishops + Slogans = ??? (Fr. Robert McTeigue, S.J.) · The Catholic Current

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  Has this ever happened to you?
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  You sat through a long meeting and at the end of it you said to yourself, you know,
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  I think that could have been handled by an email.
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  Well, what if after the meeting you did get an email telling you about how wonderful the
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  meeting was, but you didn't go to the meeting.
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  You just heard about the people who attended having a wonderful time doing great things.
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  And what if you read the email and said, I think I paid for this.
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  Now one more thing I want you to imagine.
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  Imagine that this meeting and its email is not the product or some brainchild of someone
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  from corporate headquarters, but instead is from a group of bishops from several countries.
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  Then what?
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  Stay with me.
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  I've got a story to tell.
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  Hi, I'm Jesuit Father Robert McTigge, your host here every day, The Catholic Current,
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  coming to you from the Station of the Cross Catholic Media Network.
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  Let's take a closer look.
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  Glad you're here.
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  On February 15th through 17th, 11 bishops met in the United States at a retreat center
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  to, as they said, pray and discuss their shared ministry as pastors.
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  There were bishops from Latin America and the Caribbean, from Canada and from the United
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  States.
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  Okay, good for them.
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  What did they do at that retreat?
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  In their own words, they said, we have experienced days of fraternal joy, united in prayer, sincere
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  dialogue and pastoral discernment.
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  And you might say, gosh, good for them.
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  Well, I started hearing from people from many walks of life who've been following the meeting
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  and the aftermath and so on.
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  Not surprising for someone like me who works in media.
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  And they had some questions.
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  And one of the questions was, who paid for this?
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  Their travel from several different countries to the United States, the room and board,
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  who paid for this?
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  And someone asked, did the bishops work extra shifts at McDonald's or the night shift driving
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  for Uber to pay for this?
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  I don't know.
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  And that's not my principal concern.
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  My principal concern is from their press release regarding their February 15th to 17th meeting.
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  And the press release was given to the public on February 19th, just a few days ago.
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  And they concluded with this.
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  We urge all the people of God in the Americas to live our unity in a concrete and daily
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  way.
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  The generous welcome of migrants and the defense of the most vulnerable and respectful dialogue
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  even admits differences in the patient building of bridges.
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  I don't know what stands out for you in that statement, but here's what stands out for
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  me bridges and February 19th, 2026.
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  So I would suggest to the signatories of this document, bishops all that they build a bridge
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  and they build a bridge from wherever they met to Greenville, North Carolina.
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  Why there?
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  Because on February 19th, the date that this press release was given to the public, there
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  was a home invasion in Greenville, North Carolina, who invaded the home.
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  Well, among them was undocumented newcomer, Zaid Mayan Esteban and the undocumented and
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  undomiciled Jonathan David Garcia Lario, previously deported in 2024 and John Carlos
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  Calderon whose immigration status is under investigation.
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  And what did they do when they invaded that home?
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  Well, they found someone there and they beat him and then they sodomized him and then they
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  pulled out his fingernails.
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  That is what they did.
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  I would like to see a bridge built there.
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  And once the bridge is built to Greenville, to that gentleman's home where he was violated
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  by newcomers, I would like the bishops to state to that man's face looking him in the
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  eye what they put in their press release, namely that fraternity is possible and that
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  the gospel continues to be a transformative force in our societies.
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  And I'd like to be there when it happened.
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  Now maybe I'm being a little unfair to the signatories of this document, and maybe the
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  people who contacted me with concern and even exasperation are being unfair to the signatories
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  as well.
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  I mean, surely they all mean well, don't they?
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  So I want to take a lesson from St. Paul, his epistle to Galatians, chapter 6, verse
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  1.
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  My translation reads this way,
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  Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual should restore him in
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  a spirit of gentleness.
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  Look to yourself, lest you be tempted.
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  Now I read that from St. Paul and I thought back to when I used to broadcast live on radio.
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  One of the slogans of our network is proclaiming the fullness of truth with clarity and charity.
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  And while I was broadcasting live, an old friend would text me in all caps with exclamation
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  points and he would yell with his thumbs, more clarity, less charity.
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  So on behalf of that gentleman from Greenville, and on behalf of those who have contacted
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  me about the tragedy in Greenville and the press release that was given to the public
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  on the same day of this horrendous crime, I want to offer a suggestion to the signatories,
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  indeed to all bishops, more facts, fewer slogans.
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  Based on what I've heard from people who've written me, called me, text me, spoken to
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  me, people from all walks of life, clergy, lay, religious, here's what we all need.
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  There are people in the media saying that American bishops have profited significantly
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  from their aid to migrants.
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  What people need, they tell me, all in one place is a definitive step-by-step rebuttal
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  of that claim with, of course, all the receipts.
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  Another thing that people tell me that they need from our bishops is definitive rebuttal
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  of the accusation that different organizations under the guidance of the Catholic Church
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  and the bishops in the United States have been implicated in the trafficking of children.
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  That urgently needs to be rebutted step-by-step in public and in print, of course, with all
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  the receipts.
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  And finally, people tell me that what they need from our bishops in these are times is
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  concrete examples of pastoral solicitude to people who have been violated and worse in
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  their own homes by, you know, newcomers.
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  I know that a lot of clergy have gone out of their way to be shown to be accompanying
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  the recently arrived in the United States and the not-so-recently-arrived who lack documentation,
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  but I haven't seen an equal or comparable effort to be photographed offering the gospel
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  and the sacraments to people who've been violated by criminals who should not have been in the
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  country in the first place, and not a lot of pastoral accompaniment of those families
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  who are grieving because their loved ones have been raped and murdered by people who
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  should not have been in this country in the first place.
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  So on behalf of all those people, they asked me to deliver a message to these signatories.
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  More facts, fewer slogans.
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  And I would say this as a member of the clergy.
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  The sheep need to be fed, taught, and protected and sanctified by the shepherds.
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  And when public statements seem to be at variance with public perception, credibility is at
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  risk.
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  And I believe that the sheep are not well-served and God is not glorified when the shepherds
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  are perceived as not being good stewards of their credibility.
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  There's a lot here.
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  My heart breaks for those who've been affected grievously by recent events.
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  In this holy season of Lent, let's make reparation and sacrifice.
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  Meanwhile, think of these things today, take them to prayer, and talk about it with those
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  you love.
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  Go in peace and please do pray for me, for I am a sinner.