Bishop Rhoades is fixated — on what matters.

(An abbreviated form of this letter was printed in the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette on May 29, 2016.)

Ted Remington wrote a Letter to the Editor on May 22, 2016 regarding the Official Statements of Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades on the website for the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend. It is unfortunate that his letter failed to acknowledge the hundreds of statements by Bishop Rhoades on many topics of moral concern.

There were only five public statements of Bishop Rhoades (a sixth was from all the Bishops of Indiana) on the diocesan website; his hundreds of other speeches, newspaper columns, and presentations are listed elsewhere on the website. Four of the five public statements were responses to the media who asked Bishop Rhoades for his comments on the issues of the Laetare Medal, Planned Parenthood, the Supreme Court decision on same-sex marriage, and the Synod on the Family. The fifth was a speech given at the request of the University of Saint Francis on the issue of same-sex marriage. It is totally erroneous to claim that the Bishop is somehow fixated on issues surrounding sexuality. As a shepherd of the Fort Wayne-South Bend Diocese, it would be irresponsible for him not to make public statements regarding these topics, especially since the local media inquired of him about the position of the Catholic Church on those issues.

When one reviews the hundreds of columns, speeches, and homilies of Bishop Rhoades, one immediately finds that he has spoken and taught on the full range of Catholic moral and social teaching: human life and dignity, marriage and sexuality, economic and political life, poverty, immigration, education, health care, the environment, etc. As is required of a shepherd, Bishop Rhoades has spoken publicly on a wide range of topics, addressing moral and social issues in our culture from the perspective of faith.

In addition to speaking on a wide variety of issues, Bishop Rhoades is actively involved in the work of these issues. Bishop Rhoades’ advocacy and activity in areas that Mr. Remington claims he has been silent on are well-known locally and nationally. The bishop served as Chair of the U.S. Bishops’ Task Force on Health Care and has been a leader in this area, even called to the Vatican to speak on this issue. Most of his priestly ministry was spent serving in poor parishes and primarily immigrant communities. Fluent in Spanish, he has advocated for increasing efforts to serve more people through the diocesan Hispanic ministry. He teaches and embraces the Church’s “preferential option for the poor,” something he says he learned from Mother Teresa and her sisters, when as a student in Rome, he worked several years in their homeless shelter. Bishop Rhoades is actively engaged with the humanitarian efforts of Catholic Charities and Catholic Relief Services (CRS). Serving as a member of the Board of Directors of Catholic Relief Services, he recently visited Haiti, spoken and written publicly on the needs there, and encouraged all four of the Catholic high schools of the diocese and several parishes to more actively participate in the works of CRS.

So, instead of focusing merely on one outlet of diocesan information, a simple search by the author of the Letter to the Editor would have uncovered hundreds of Bishop Rhoades’ weekly columns in Today’s Catholic, his homilies, speeches, and more importantly, the deeds which the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, under his leadership and direction, is doing to serve the poor, the needy, the lost, the forsaken, the shut-in, the immigrant, the sick, and the mentally and physically challenged, just to name a few.

Mr. Remington accuses Bishop Rhoades of silence on the plight of immigrants when evidence to the contrary is easily located on the Diocesan website under “Bishop’s Homilies & Talks,” for example — a 22 page speech that Bishop Rhoades gave on immigration at Ancilla College in Donaldson. For the other moral issues that Remington names, Bishop Rhoades has had plenty to say. I thought that it would be helpful to include a few examples of the moral topics on which Bishop Rhoades has refused to remain silent:

On growing wealth inequality: “The Church acknowledges the legitimate role of profit in business, but not profit at the expense of other human and moral goods, like the needs of workers and their families, the needs of the poor, and the care of the environment. Business owners and managers have a responsibility for the common good, beginning with the welfare of their employees and their families.” (Talk on Economic Life to Catholic Business Network, Fort Wayne, March 4, 2016)

On ministry to ex-prisoners: “We must help ex-prisoners to rebuild their lives and to eliminate the word ‘despair’ from their vocabulary…. Men and women who have been imprisoned can face many obstacles upon their release, obstacles on the road to human fulfillment, things like unemployment, sometimes a relapse into addictions, or difficult or broken family situations. How important it is that they not fall into despair, that there are people to help and support them. How important it is that they know that we care, that they are not alone, and have dignity as God’s sons and daughters.” (Talk at Dinner for Dismas House, South Bend, March 26, 2014).

On the Church’s preferential option for the poor: “The poor, the marginalized, and those whose living conditions interfere with their proper growth should be the focus of our particular concern. It involves the exercise of Christian charity. This should affect the life of every Christian inasmuch as we seek to imitate the life of Christ. It involves our manner of living. It involves rejecting the immoderate love of riches or their selfish use. We are called to imitate Christ’s compassion, inspired by Jesus’ own poverty, his teachings, and his attention to the poor.” (Talk at Goshen College, October 18, 2013)

On justice for immigrants: “What is primary for all of us in relation to how we look upon immigrants in our community is not their national, religious, or ethnic background, or their status as documented or undocumented. First and foremost, we recognize them as our brothers and sisters in the human family, as persons with an intrinsic dignity that must always be respected and safeguarded. We don’t look at immigrants and refugees as representing merely a problem to be solved, but as brothers and sisters to be welcomed, respected, and loved.” (Talk at Interfaith Thanksgiving Service, Temple Achduth Vesholom, Fort Wayne, November 26, 2013).

On health care: “The Church has been a strong advocate in society for the right to quality, affordable, and accessible health care for all people, especially the poor, the uninsured and underinsured, immigrants, and other vulnerable populations. In the midst of the heated and often very contentious political debate in the United States concerning health care policy, the Church has been consistent in its defense of the sanctity of life and for a just health care system that works for everyone.” (Speech at Vatican Conference on Health Care, 2011).

On faith and politics: “As Catholics, we have an obligation to participate in shaping the moral character of society. We must bring to the public square what our faith teaches about human dignity, the sacredness of human life, the truth about marriage and the family, the dignity of work, economic justice, care for the environment, etc. These aren’t optional topics of our faith.” (Talk at Saint Vincent de Paul Parish, Fort Wayne, February 21, 2016).

On protecting the environment: “Our responsibility for the care of the earth is part of our faith. We are to use the goods of the earth responsibly. We should be deeply concerned about the depletion of the natural resources of the earth, air and water pollution, and loss of biodiversity. We should be concerned about the harmful effects of global warming, which most scientists attribute largely to greenhouse gases” (Column in Today’s Catholic on papal encyclical, Laudato Si)

On religious persecution: “The persecuted Christians of Iraq and Syria, many of whom are refugees, are our brothers and sisters in Christ. Their suffering must be our suffering. We are called to compassion for them, to pray for these suffering members of the Body of Christ and to assist them, as we are doing through the work of Catholic Relief Services.” (Column in Today’s Catholic, January 2016).

So you see, Bishop Rhoades may be fixated, but it is certainly not with such a narrow focus as Remington would falsely suggest. Bishop Rhoades tirelessly advocates for all the issues of morality, which is to say, he is fixated— on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If any of these quotes piqued your interest and you would like to read more, you can find the Bishop’s speeches, homilies and columns at www.diocesefwsb.org.

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