Madison Bishop Robert Morlino threw out his sermon notes last Sunday and instead addressed statements of church doctrine being made by Democratic Party leaders. Speaking at the 11am Mass at St. Patrick’s church in downtown Madison, shortly after the appearance of vice presidential candidate Joe Biden on Meet the Press, Morlino said "prominent Catholics should not be violating the separation of church and state and teaching the wrong thing."
Morlino said that Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had been taught correct church positions in the Catholic schools they attended in their youth. He said, like Biden, he grew up in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and he knows what Biden was taught in Catholic schools. But apparently Biden and Pelosi had become confused by the statements of "certain theologians, bishops, and priests." He said they should stop speaking on the issue if they can’t speak correctly.
"They’re violating the separation of church and state by confusing people about what I have an obligation to teach," Morlino said. "They’re stepping on the pope’s turf, and mine. They’re violating the separation of church and state and confusing God’s good people."
Morlino said that he was not giving a pro-life sermon and he wasn’t giving a political sermon. He was giving a sermon about correctly teaching church doctrine. And if Republican politicians were misrepresenting church doctrine, he would take them to task.
He also made several swipes at the Wisconsin State Journal in his sermon, saying that it was apparent from what he had read this past summer that some people in Madison also do not understand Catholic church doctrine.