Does Catholic political involvement contribute to sectarianism?
The term of art is partisan. Sectarianism is what happens when people leave or expel others. The Church has been partisan since James and Johns asked for thrones at Jesus side in the kingdom. We saw it in the epistles of Paul, in the Council at Jerusalem, in Revelation (remnants of the Jerusalem church complaining about the Paulist Church), Clement of Antioch in 100 AD.
Many of these conflicts are regional, like in the U.S., and reflect the flock as much as the Bishops. In the early modern era, the Vatican consolidated power to compensate for losing Italy to Garibaldi until Vatican II ended that. St. John Paul was a voice of discord at the Council and a counter-revolutionary Pope.
The GOP played into those divisions and the USCCB members and staff on the right were more than happy to play ball. That is what is playing out now. If there were no debate and active subversion, I would check the sky for Jesus returning.
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