Home
/
RELIGION & LIBERTY ONLINE
/
A bishop opposes mandatory union membership (video)
A bishop opposes mandatory union membership (video)
Jul 18, 2025 8:11 PM

Some Catholic leaders have called the Supreme Court’s Janus decision “disappointing.” But a bishop says the Court ruled correctly, both because the union funds immoral activity and pulsory union dues violate Catholic teachings on the freedom of association.

Illinois government worker Mark Janus sued for the right to sever financial ties with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME).

When the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB)filed an amicus curiae briefon behalf of ASCME, the bishop of Janus’ local diocese said the document did not represent Catholic social teaching.

“No vote was taken on whether to file such a brief,” said Bp. Thomas Paprocki of Springfield. “While Church teaching clearly supports freedom of association and the right to form and join a union, it does not mandate coercing people to join a union or pay dues against their will.”

Bishop Frank Dewane described the Court’s 5-4 decision as “disappointing,” because it “renders the long-held view of so many bishops constitutionally out-of-bounds.”

But in an online video, Bp. Parocki said, “I respectfully disagree.”

Citing paragraph 57 of Rerum Novarum,he said that “unions should not expect the unquestioning support of the Church when their objectives are contrary to the duties of religion and morality.” He noted that AFSCME contributed $435,000 to Planned Parenthood in 2014, in conjunction with SEIU and the United Food and Commercial Workers. AFSCME, he continued, decried “health care laws [that] have restricted the places where abortions can be performed.” Although the bishop did not mention it, AFSCE President Lee Saunders also described legislation designed to respect the religious liberty of people engaged merce as “un-American” and an “embarrassment” which “cannot be tolerated.”

Bp. Paprocki said, “Forcing public employees to subsidize unions that promote such immoral policies and activities is just not right. … No longer will public sector employees be required to pay mandatory dues to support unions that promote abortion and other political issues with which they disagree.”

However, he went beyond criticizing the effect pulsory union dues to critique the economic coercion itself. “It is encouraging that the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Janus v. AFSCME upholds the right to be free from coercion in speech,” he said.

(This article continues after the video.)

Bishop Paprocki’s bines the best elements of Catholic teaching and the philosophy of America’s Founding Fathers in an exemplary marriage of faith and liberty.

The Vatican has specifically pulsory unionism. In 2000, the Pontifical Council for the Family cited a person’s right not to join a labor union as “a safeguard against totalitarianism.” Speaking of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the council wrote:

The UniversalDeclarationwisely recognizes that an essential part of thefreedom of association– which includes freedom to associate in labor unions– is the right whereby individuals cannot pelled by the State to join an association.All these rights, which individuals and private associations enjoy, are vital for the development of “civil society.” They constitute a safeguard against totalitarianism. (“The Family and Human Rights.” Emphases in original.)

Freedom – of association, speech, or religion – only exists in the absence of coercion. The freedom of association, which is well-grounded in Catholic social teaching, carries mensurate freedom to avoid associating with those whose values one loathes.

To this American, Bp. Parocki’s statement echoes the words of Thomas Jefferson, that pel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.”

The bishop’s statement also demonstrates that debate over matters of prudential judgment on which the Magisterium has not spoken exist at the highest levels of the church.

Deacon Keith Fournier praised “the courage of Bishop Paprocki. He demonstrates that, while holding to a principle of Catholic Social teaching, even bishops can, and do disagree on applications.”

Watch “I respectfully disagree” by @diospringfield on #Vimeo

The courage of Bishop Paprocki. He demonstrates that, while holding to a principle of Catholic Social teaching, even Bishop’s can, and DO disagree on applications.

— Keith Fournier (@KeithFournier7) July 15, 2018

Acton Institute founder Fr. Robert Sirico had to explain the difference between binding moral and religious pronouncements and non-binding papal statements to former Senator Barbara Boxer during congressional testimony in 2016. (You can read Fr. Sirico’s statement on the Janus ruling here.)

Sableman. This photo has been cropped. CC BY 2.0.)

Comments
Welcome to mreligion comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
RELIGION & LIBERTY ONLINE
Counting the Profit of a Third Party Choice
Joe Carter recently highlighted the discussion at Ethika Politika, the journal of the Center for Morality in Public Life, about the value of (not) voting, particularly the suggestion by Andrew Haines that in some cases there is a moral duty not to vote. This morning I respond with an analysis of the consequences of not voting, ultimately arguing that one must not neglect to count the cost of abstaining to vote for any particular office. One issue, however, that I...
Dodd-Frank: The Other Serious Threat
At least es at us head on. The greater legislative threat may be the one that most Americans have never heard of. Economist Scott Powell and Acton friend Jay Richards explain in a new piece in Barron’s: While Obamacare received more attention, the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, also known as Dodd-Frank after its Senate and House sponsors, … unleashed a new regulatory body, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, to operate with unprecedented power. Dodd-Frank became law in...
Markets and culture: A time to play, a time to pray
Faced with the prospect of a professional athletic career, a nearly-half million dollar salary, and a perfect lady, what’s not to like? Apparently, for Grant Desme, it was the noise and unrest of the world. Can a culture of life and the noise and tumult of the marketplace co-exist? Rev. Robert Sirico, reflecting on this, says they can, so long as it is not a place where: [C]apitalism…places the human person at the mercy of blind economic forces…What we propose,...
Want to Help the Poor? Promote a Free Market in Health Care
Want to help the poor? Promote a free market in health care. That’s the argument made by John C. Goodman, author of the new book Priceless: Curing the Healthcare Crisis. Timothy Dalrymple recently talked with Goodman about the best approach for restoring free-market pricing mechanisms into the market for medical care and health insurance: Aren’t there some people, however, who have little of money and lots of time, and would prefer to wait in order to receive cheaper care? There...
On Call with Dr. Pamela Casson
Dr. Pamela Casson, a pediatrician in Colorado Springs, knows what it means literally to be “On Call.” This week she shares with us in this video interview with Jon Hirst how she sees God working through her in her work with families, children and the world around her. Thank you Pamela for giving us an inside look at how you see your work as blessing the world. ...
Stop Apologizing for Our Liberties
You cannot apologize to a fanatic, says Lee Harris. It only serves to convince him that he was right all along: The last few weeks have witnessed a peculiar and disturbing spectacle: An American administration that has spent a great deal of time and energy apologizing for our liberties—in particular, for what many would regard as the foundation of all our other liberties, namely, the freedom to express our minds as we see fit. This signature freedom, of which Americans...
How were people On Call in Culture 165 years ago?
What is so special about 1837? That was the year Abraham Kuyper was born. September 29th is his 165th birthday. So we thought we would go back to 1837 and see how people were being On Call in Culture back then. We don’t know if they were all believers on a mission to bless the world, but by seeing what was going on 165 years ago, we hope you are encouraged to engage your world in 2012! How did people...
Did 2,362 Millionaires Get Unemployment Checks in 2009? (Answer: Yes they did.)
The Congressional Research Service (CRS), a group that works exclusively for the U.S. Congress, issued a report with one of the greatest titles I’ve ever seen on a government document: Receipt of Unemployment Insurance by e Unemployed Workers (“Millionaires”) Now the first nine words are nothing special, typical policy-wonk speak. But whoever added in the word “millionaires” with scare quotes and parentheses is a genius. Most people would have been nodding off around the word “Insurance” but seeing millionaires (that’s...
Rev. Sirico on Life, Work, and Human Flourishing
J.Q. Tomanek of Ignitum Today interviewed Rev. Sirico about life, work, human flourishing, and his new book, Defending the Free Market: JQ Tomanek: Back in the day, holiness was misinterpreted as a cleric or religious life thing. How can a lay Catholic practice their faith? What are some ways to sanctify our work as lay Catholics? Is “ora et labora” just a monk thing? Reverend Sirico: Yes, religious people are often tempted to e so “heavenly minded they are no...
Is it really ‘aid’ if it goes to relatively wealthy nations?
Alan Duncan, an aid minister in the UK, says his government is “forced” to hand over large amounts of money to the EU’s foreign aid budget, but has no say in how the money is spent. The problem is that much of the $2 billion+ “aid” money (one-sixth of the British budget) goes to projects such as making a Moroccan water park more eco-friendly, an art project in St. Petersburg, and building a hotel and plex in Barbados. Britain’s International...
Related Classification
Copyright 2023-2025 - www.mreligion.com All Rights Reserved