Bishop Tobin hits the airwaves on the John DePetro radio talk show

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PROVIDENCE—WPRO morning radio talk-show host John DePetro hosted Bishop Thomas J. Tobin Oct. 10 in a show that had the telephone ringing nonstop as listeners seized the chance to ask questions and make comments. According to DePetro, it is the first time any Rhode Island bishop has appeared live on a radio talk show; though several programs, including his, have broadcast live telephone interviews with Bishop Tobin.

The bishop was both diplomatic and direct in dealing with issues ranging from illegal immigration to the war in Iraq to the biggest threat today to religion and spirituality.

Noting the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has spoken out on illegal immigration several times, Bishop Tobin said, “We support comprehensive, immediate reform. The system is broken, and we have the right and the duty to secure or borders.”

But, he cautioned, “We have to approach people who are here as human beings, as children of God.” He called the present level of anger “divisive. This is not a political issue; it’s a social services issue. We have to deal with those here as brothers and sisters. We have to approach the issue remembering what Jesus said: ‘I was a stranger and you welcomed me.’

“This is, after all, one of the bases of the final judgment. Jesus didn’t say, ‘I was a stranger with legal documents and you welcomed me.’” Urging “compassion and charity,” he noted that the Holy Family “were surely illegal immigrants when they fled into Egypt.”

As to the war in Iraq, Bishop Tobin reminded, U.S. Bishops have also spoken out several times on that issue. The Church believes in the concept of a “just war,” and “prudential judgments have to be made” about any conflict, he said. “We have a right to defend ourselves, and a duty to fight against evil in the world.”

Some callers wanted clarification on issues they’d heard or read about, and were confused. “Is it true that you can go to confession now on line?” asked one.

“No, that’s another denomination,” Bishop Tobin said. “That’s not a Catholic approach – we

believe in a very personal approach to the Sacrament. (Confession) is not used as much today; and that’s ironic, because we probably need it more. But, no – you can’t confess on line or at a drive thru window.”

Another caller wondered why the papal “edict requiring Latin Mass ”wasn’t being followed in all the churches. “It’s not a mandate; it’s not a requirement,” he explained, noting that one parish in the Diocese of Providence had already been offering the Latin Mass, and others might choose to do so. “Every Diocese is going to handle it differently,” he explained.

DePetro asked why “so few young men” are entering the priesthood compared to prior decades.

“The reasons are many,” said Bishop Tobin, listing a more secular society, a prevalent relativism and subjectivity, and changes in family life, including far fewer children. “I was the youngest of seven, with two brothers,” DePetro added. “My mother wanted somebody to be a priest!”

And what, DePetro queried, is the “greatest competition for all religious communities?”

“The general sense of secularism,” replied the bishop. He quoted Pope John Paul, who described the “practical atheism of the age: We don’t bother to deny God; we simply try to live our lives without him.”

Case in point: The terrorist attacks on 9-11, six years ago, when people flocked to churches. “Where are those people now?” asked Bishop Tobin.

Earlier in the program, he discussed the importance of acting on one’s faith. “We absolutely need to be pro-active,” he said. “That’s one of the reasons I do something like this (radio program). We are called to enhance our own communities. The pope does that. Cardinal O’Malley (of Boston) has his own blog. Being involved in the community and public discussions doesn’t mean watering down doctrines. We should not be conformed to society, but live in a way that enhances society.

“But not at the cost of sacred truth.”