Phil Lawler: No need to apologize for hard truths

Everybody knows "the Catholic position on abortion...on contraception and divorce and homosexual acts...so when Catholic priests or bishops or any kind of spokesman for the Church seems to shy away from saying what everybody knows the Church believes, it makes it look as if we're ashamed of our beliefs or we're hypocritical about our beliefs. It makes the witness of the Church — well, just wimpy. No one is attracted to an institution whose representatives won't be forthright in defending what we know the institution believes and preaches," said Phil Lawler, editor of Catholic World News and book author.

Lawler's commentary, "Apologizing for hard truths," described a homily on sin given in Ireland by Fr. Sean Sheehy, resulting in an apology from Bishop Ray Browne, Bishop of Kerry.

Follow Lawler @PhilLawler on Twitter and listen to a previous Respect Life Radio interview with him, "Denying Communion to Speaker Pelosi a teaching moment for us all."