Slate Asks the Pope for Help on Health Care

Timothy Noah has written a letter to Benedict XVI asking him to tell the U.S. Conference of Catholic bishops to stopping trying to block the passage of a health care package.

The Catholic Church, I’m told, is a very hierarchical organization. A simple, private word from you to the U.S. Conference of Bishops would secure from that group a grudging public statement to the effect that the Senate abortion compromise, while hardly ideal, is tolerable under the circumstances. That, in turn, would give Stupak (a Catholic) and his followers sufficient cover to support the Senate bill. Nobody wants to be more Catholic than you.