Washington D.C., Jun 3, 2021 / 19:00 pm
The Archbishop Emeritus of Philadelphia last week said that some Catholic bishops were “too compliant” with state and local restrictions on churches during the recent pandemic.
“If you don’t reach out to people who are lonely and suffering and dying in a time like the pandemic, then you’re not being the Church, and that’s very, very bad for everyone involved,” retired Archbishop Charles Chaput said last Friday on Fox News’ streaming service, Fox Nation.
Chaput was interviewed by Tucker Carlson last Friday on his new book Things Worth Dying For: Thoughts on a Life Worth Living. He said that some Church leaders fought to keep their churches open amid state and local pandemic restrictions, but added that other Catholic bishops were “too compliant.”
The archbishop said that he was sympathetic to the situation of bishops and other Church leaders, because it is an essential part of Christianity to be “cooperative” in order to serve the common good.
“But as time went on and leaders saw the effect of this on their churches, it seems to me they should have been more insistent on being available to the people who needed their care,” he said in the May 28 interview.
Chaput, who retired as Archbishop of Philadelphia last year, authored his new book which was published on March 16, 2021 by Henry Holt and Co.
In a March interview with CNA, he explained that his book focuses on death as a key to living a good life.
“What we’re willing to die for reveals what we’re willing to live for, the things we really hold as sacred — not just with our words, but with our hearts,” he told CNA. He said that “a good death can only be had as the fruit of a good life, a life lived with integrity and right purpose.”