The Church and the state

America’s Roman Catholic church has waded back into the forefront of national politics in recent weeks.

Bishops intervened forcefully in the debate over healthcare, pushing amendments that — according to some critics — could add new limits to women’s access to insurance coverage for abortion procedures.

(Advocates of the changes argue that the language merely continues an existing Federal ban on taxpayer funding for abortion services.)

But the abortion-healthcare debate is only one front in the Church’s forward-leaning political activism.

A bishop in Rhode Island has banned Democratic Rep. Patrick Kennedy from taking communion, because he is pro-choice.

Meanwhile, the Church is threatening to cancel its social service programs in Washington DC if the city’s civic leaders stand by a same-sex marriage law that many view as a civil rights issue.

The Catholic Archdiocese of Washington said Wednesday that it will be unable to continue the social service programs it runs for the District if the city doesn’t change a proposed same-sex marriage law, a threat that could affect tens of thousands of people the church helps with adoption, homelessness and health care.

(The Church has also been a staunch opponent of same-sex marriage legislation here in New York state.)

While the bishops weigh in on these political debates, they are also moving aggressively to cement their authority over a wide range of Catholic organizations that have operated semi- independently.

At a meeting last week in Maryland, the bishops argued that these groups — many of them more liberal than the church hierarchy — are “less than fully Catholic.”

Here’s the view articulated by Cardinal Francis George, Archbishop of Chicago:

In particular, church leaders have begun discussing ways to “strengthen our relationships” with Catholic universities, media groups that claim “the right to be a voice in the church,” and other organizations that work under Catholic auspices, George said.

“The faithful need the bishops in order to be Catholic, and the bishops need the faithful in order to be Catholic pastors,” said George, president of the bishops conference.

Polls consistently show the Church leadership to be considerably more conservative on issues like abortion, same-sex marriage, homosexuality, birth control, divorce, married clergy, etc.

What do you think? Is the Church providing a steady and valuable moral compass? Or is it crossing the line by helping to script legislation that will affect tens of millions of non-Catholics?