America’s Catholic Bishops made a strong endorsement of gun control during their yearly Fall General Assembly this week in Baltimore.
The bishops endorsed wide-ranging restrictions on American gun ownership, such as “assault weapons” bans, magazine capacity restrictions, and “limitations on handguns.” A graphic of the endorsed proposals surfaced online.
The bishops face the risk of alienating their gun-owning parishioners by pushing a gun control agenda. Many practicing American Catholics own guns.
Bishop Frank Dewayne of Venice, Florida spearheaded the push for gun control. Some of the prominent liberals within the American Catholic hierarchy have gone even further in calling for gun restrictions on American citizens.
The USCCB (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops) earlier endorsed a prospective “assault weapons” ban after the 2017 Las Vegas shooting. The bishops endorsed the 1994 ban put in place by philanderer Bill Clinton, that studies show failed to significantly deter gun violence in America.
The Vatican maintains a highly-trained and armed professional security service, a luxury that leading American clergy seem unwilling to permit for everyday American citizens. In fact, the Vatican City Gendarmerie is equipped with submachine guns largely out of the legal reach of American gun owners.
As American Catholic leaders make wide-ranging forays into secular political issues, the Church in America faces serious challenges. Almost half of American adults raised in Catholicism go on to leave the religion.
Catholics need bishops laser-focused on their pastoral duties and administering the sacraments to souls in an era where the Church faces a plethora of major crises, such as clerical sex abuse and a lack of clarity on fundamental doctrine from the Vatican. It’s simply not the place of the bishops to agitate against American gun rights.