In Wake of Local Bishops’ Joint Statement, Catholics for Change is Born

A sign carried during last Wednesday’s protest outside the Roman Catholic Diocese of Dallas

As you’re no doubt aware, on October 8 Bishop Kevin Farrell of Dallas and Bishop Kevin Vann of Fort Worth made public a joint statement in which they told their congregations, “To vote for a candidate who supports the intrinsic evil of abortion or ‘abortion rights’ when there is a morally acceptable alternative would be to cooperate in the evil — and, therefore, morally impermissible.” The letter was read from various pulpits the following Sunday, after which followed a protest outside the Catholic Diocese of Dallas a few days later.

This morning, we received an e-mail from Catholics for Change, a group that says it was created following the letter’s reading on October 12. And though the group acknowledges “the majority of our group” supports Barack Obama, it claims to be a “non-partisan group of faithful, committed Catholics who feel that the Bishop has overstepped his authority in publishing this letter” and is calling for Farrell to “reconsider and retract his pastoral letter” with an online petition. It also says the protests in front of the Dallas Diocese will continue every Wednesday through the end of the month, from 4:30 to 6 p.m. In related news, on Yom Kippur, Rabbi William Gershon at Congregation Shearith Israel said of Bill Maher’s Religulous: It’s “offensive … hilarious … troubling.” Blurb! –Robert Wilonsky