My Toledo correspondent writes:

At last — a response to the many vulgar anti-Catholic columns by Toledo Blade associate editor Eileen Foley (grew up Catholic, now “knows better”). Bishop Blair is apparently not going to sit back silently…

I cannot presume to speak for other religious bodies in our country. I can only speak for myself as a Roman Catholic bishop. And what I see is not encouraging with regard to the future role of religion for the well-being of freedom in our society.

For simply teaching what the Catholic Church has always taught, and expecting Catholics to abide by the teachings of the faith they claim to process, the Catholic bishops of the United States are not only attacked but vilified.

I am thinking in particular of teachings on ordination, abortion, artificial contraception, divorce, homosexual acts, etc. These doctrines are denounced, even though most, if not all Christian churches (and many other religions, too) upheld these same teachings for centuries.

When I say that the bishops are “vilified,” I use the term advisedly. Earlier this year an op-ed piece in The Blade stated among other things that “our nation is measled (sic) with bishops fixated, lockstep, on the crotch politics of abortion and gay marriage.” Bishops are “men who suppress their sexuality” and “bigots for denying women ordination.”

The immediate source of the writer’s wrath was the bishops’ insistence that politicians who claim to be Roman Catholic adhere to Catholic teaching by not ignoring, misrepresenting, or contradicting that teaching. It remains to be seen what the wisest course of action might be in dealing with this problem, but every bishop has a solemn duty to ensure the integrity of church teaching and to uphold it, especially within the Church.

Granted, many people, even some who call themselves Catholic, do not accept those teachings.

But have we come to the point where political candidates or an opinion poll or dissenters can rewrite the Catechism of the Catholic Church, or the teachings of any other religious body?

Or prevent Catholic bishops or other religious leaders from exercising their religious authority over their community’s members in accordance with the fundamental beliefs and laws of that community?