In the matter of withholding communion from Kerry and other pro-choice Catholic politicians, Ramesh, you write: “If my reasoning is correct, this is not a discretionary matter for the bishops.” You argue here that bishops have no moral choice other than to withhold communion from Kerry and others, a persuasive assertion. But to avoid confusing our readers, particularly non-Catholic readers, it is worth noting that as a legal matter–that is, as a matter of canon law–withholding communion from pro-choice politicians is indeed a discretionary matter for the bishops.

What this means, of course, is that the Vatican cannot simply crack down, issuing a diktat to Cardinal McCarrick and the dozens of other American bishops who are proving so squeamish in this matter. Instead,the Vatican–and, for that matter, concerned laymen–must attempt to use moral suasion on the bishops, forcing them to confront their own negligence. Jody Bottum’s article reresents a nice example of such suasion, as does your posting. As does a column Pat Buchanan wrote the other day. (Wrong about a lot these days, Pat is nevertheless exactly right about the bishops.) “Rather than act as a pride of lions defending Catholic truth,” Pat wrote, “[the bishops] have, with rare exceptions, behaved like a rabbit warren.”