Papal biographer: Narrative of US bishops’ division is a myth

George Weigel, a prominent Catholic writer best-known for his biography of Pope Saint John Paul II, wrote in a Dec. 10 column that, despite what many outlets and even a few bishops report, the American episcopate enjoys both unity within itself and independence from either major political party.

Weigel opened his column for Catholic World Report by explaining that the idea of tension between Rome and the U.S. bishops is based on a kernel of truth, but this kernel is commonly misunderstood.

“Roman authorities have often had difficulties grasping the distinctive character and achievements of the Church in the United States,” he wrote in the column. “Yet few particular Churches of the size and significance of American Catholicism have been as doggedly loyal (and generous) to ‘Rome’ as we have. That is not a brag; it is a historical and empirical fact.”

To make his point clear, Weigel considered Archbishop Timothy Broglio’s final address as president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. In his comments, Archbishop Broglio particularly thanked his brother bishops for their unity and fraternity.

Weigel said that, in a different time, this might have been nothing more than etiquette, but at that moment, the archbishop was intentionally underscoring their unity. Weigel described how the idea that U.S. bishops are profoundly divided has been spread by Catholic publications in various languages. He suggests that authors at these publications have “absorbed this fictitious (and in some cases malicious) story line from the National Catholic Reporter and from Commonweal’s Massimo Faggioli (whose distorted view of the Church in the United States has not been improved by his recent translation from Villanova to Dublin).”

“Other fairy tales” often go along with the myth of division, Weigel wrote. He offered several examples: that the U.S. bishops disliked and disrespected Pope Francis, that they are partisans of the Republican Party, or that they care only about abortion and not immigrants. In each of these cases, according to Weigel, the truth is the opposite. He said that these rumors are a “sadness” that should end.

“The opening months of the new pontificate have seen a renewed papal stress on unity in the Church,” Weigel wrote. “I hope that those who spread disinformation about a disunited American episcopate take that to heart.”