A few courageous but less senior bishops like Daly, Strickland, and Scharfenberger, have been better spokesmen, but as things stand, they speak with no particular authority. Even if there were room for difference on Church teachings -- in these areas, as far as I can see, there isn't -- there nevertheless needs to be a better strategy for dealing with inevitable instant media controversies as they break out. Many of them have national impact even if they arise from issues within a particular diocese, which we've recently seen with the Covington boys or the New York abortion law.
One thing I don't understand is that many of the potential controversies are perennials. If something doesn't happen today to stir up a media frenzy, it'll happen next week or next month. Someone will wear a MAGA hat again. There'll be a new late-term abortion law somewhere else. Yet another priest, or heaven forbid, bishop, will have a lewd conduct or child pornography arrest. There'll be a new controversy over someone hanging a gay pride banner in the sanctuary, or else burning one.
A quick web search shows that the USCCB has a Public Affairs Office.
The Office of Public Affairs represents the Catholic Bishops of the United States to the media and the media to the bishops. Responsibilities include preparing and distributing statements and other resources for the media, arranging for interviews with bishops and staff of the USCCB, organizing press conferences, responding to media queries and credentialing media for coverage of such events as the bishops' annual meetings.I notice a potentially worthwhile subject area in the column to the left, Trending Topics Q&A, which might be just the place to put statements on some of the issues I mentioned above, but when I click on it, I find only one entry: The Moral Imperative of Budget Spending Priorities, which is basically an endorsement of Ted Kennedy-style social policies -- this may have a place, although I notice it's complaining about President Trump's first budget, now a couple of years out of date. And it's the only entry.
How many people work in the USCCB Public Affairs Office? What on earth do they do all day? Why can't they be drafting responses to thoroughly predictable future controversies, where often you'd just need to fill in blanks with names, places, and dates?
I do hear there's a lot of partying in Washington. The Church needs a real leader who can find capable people to do the real work that needs doing here. Naturally, such a leader would also need to find a way to bypass the inevitable obstructionist bishops who'll try to defeat any such efforts -- but that's the sort of thing a real leader needs to do.
If anyone has insights here, or if someone can point me to resources on the web that might be informative, I'll greatly appreciate it.
