That + his torture votes/views should be reason enough for the Catholic Church to stay far away from supporting most Republicans (with a few notable exceptions.) The way the Catholic Church has reacted in this election cycle has been reprehensible. I’ve spoken to my pastor about this, and I await a meeting with our Archbishop and our last Archbishop (retired now.) I’m just a regular old Catholic, but the Church’s actions compared to the USCCB’s own “Faithful Citizenship” guide (written quite beautifully this year!) has me conflicted enough to take myself and my family out of the fold. While my own Archidiocese didn’t partake of any of the lousy rhetoric and kept us safe from the leaflets etc, they also did not speak out against the rantings of their colleagues. In my view, those rantings violated the bishops’ own documents, and that is seriously bothersome to MANY Catholics I know — all across the country.

Thank you for continually writing what many of us are too perplexed and dismayed to coherently articulate much of the time. Well done!

Some christian sects consider Catholicism to be Not Christian, but for the average person on the street, at least these days, it’s a distinction without a difference. The only people I’ve met who really hold that view anymore are members of the thin-edge of End Time Obsessed, Hydrophoby Fundy sects.

Now, a lot of Catholics I’ve met think all those protestant church-goers, of whatever stripe, are damned.

(You’re totally mistaken if you think that the reason why I mention that so often is personal amusement… :D)