It can be surmised that Obama wanted the meeting both as a matter of diplomatic propriety and to further enhance his legitimacy in the eyes of Catholics. The President is well aware of the divisions in the Catholic community, and he has proven himself a master of staffing his administration with Catholics who disregard the Magisterium of the Church. The degree to which such Catholics have chosen to ally themselves with Obama's programs is well illustrated by a recent feature story in Catholic World Report by Anne Hendershott:Obama and the Alternative Magisterium. All the more reason, then, to pray that the meeting with the Pope will be a different kind of "Catholic" experience for our President, an experience leading to conversion. One would also hope that Obama's contact with American bishops would be a catalyst for conversion. Unfortunately, some bishops still get sidetracked into dubious political issues, as when the head of the USCCB's Committee on International Justice and Peace wildly endorsed an enormously expensive piece of legislation designed to reverse global warming: US Catholic hierarchy shows support for legislation requiring massive tax hike. The reality is that something far worse than global warming is at work in our culture. I refer to continuing moral and spiritual deterioration, which really is the province of the bishops. This deterioration is frequently promoted through the pervasive media influence which shapes us all. Here's a timely reminder of how carefully parents need to control their children's use of new means of social communication: Can Teens Stay Connected Without Losing Touch? Combating these influences is most successfully done by actually developing a counter-culture. I've been reflecting (again) on what this means. Here are my latest ideas on How Culture Is Done.
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