Catholic Bishops To Readjust Priorities

(Hat tip: Holy Fool)

From The Washington Post:

There was a time when the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops was a powerful force for bringing the church's moral teachings to bear on national policy debates.

In the 1970s, the bishops led the fight against abortion after Roe v. Wade was decided. During the Cold War, they drew international notice by questioning the morality of nuclear deterrence.

But the bishops now face a world where their moral authority has been diminished by the clergy sex-abuse scandals, where money for church programs is scarce and where many American Catholics have little understanding of, or regard for, church teaching.

At a national meeting starting today in Baltimore, the bishops are expected to make changes that adjust to their new circumstances. They plan to channel resources away from broad social pronouncements and focus more on defining Catholicism for an often-uninvolved flock.

"It's not that the bishops as a national organization will no longer be interested in sociopolitical issues," said Russell Shaw, a writer on Roman Catholic issues who spent more than 15 years as a spokesman for the conference. "But the emphasis is shifting to the life of the church itself and its own internal problems."

[More]