Bishop Daniel Flores of Brownsville, Texas will need a proverbial umbrella, because I am sure certain conservatives are about to rain down abuse on his head. In a posting at his blog, +Flores notes the frustration many Catholics feel when they enter the political realm because one party is steadfastly indifferent to the rights of the unborn and the other is steadfastly indifferent to the rights of immigrants. +Flores writes:
Let Catholics first tell the friends and power-brokers that we may know in both parties that the space they leave us is too narrow and the choices too cruel. Let Catholics in the Democratic Party make it known that in their tent there must be room to defend the unborn child, and that the arc protecting the vulnerable cannot cut them off from those we must work to protect. And let Catholics in the Republican Party make it known that in their tent there must be room to defend the immigrant, and that the arc defending the vulnerable cannot cut them off from those we must work to defend.
This echoes the case made in May by Bishop Robert McElroy for Catholics to become "insurgents" within their own parties, an invitation that far too few have taken up. The whole of +Flores' moving column is worth the read. The consistent ethic of life is making a comeback - and it is about time.
