Editor’s note

Springfi eld Diocese Bishop Thomas Paprocki has once again caused a stir by warning his parshioners that voting for candidates who favor abortion rights and same-sex marriage can endanger their eternal salvation [see Letters, p. 5]. The increasing willingness of U. S. Catholic bishops to insert themselves into election campaigns has some of their parishioners worried they will erode their moral authority by being openly political. One faith-based group, Faith in Public Life, calls the conservative bishops “the Republican Party at prayer.” Though Paprocki is often wrong in what he says, we fi nd his outspokenness refreshing. There’s nothing new about bishops being political, but in the old days you had to guess what they were doing. With Paprocki, you know where he stands. –Fletcher Farrar, editor and publisher

Cover illustration is by Chris Britt.