While the US Conference of Catholic Bishops has become a very right wing entity that is in synch with the GOP on stopping gay marriage and rolling back reproductive rights, they, as well as liberal Catholics, are a bit concerned about the fiscal priorities of Mitt Romney's running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan, whose views on abortion and gay marriage follow Catholic teachings but whose budget, they feel, has a severe impact on our most vulnerable. And that's why, as the "Church Lady" would say, it seems to be rather "special" that the day after Romney's announcement, Fox News is using its power of the right wing pulpit to put its "imprimatur" on Ryan's candidacy by using its personal Catholic priest and Roger Ailes' special friend, Fr. Jonathan Morris (unlike other clergy who occasionally appear on Fox, he has a weekly Sunday gig) to frame the Fox message that Paul Ryan is a very good and true Catholic whose critics have it all wrong. There are priests who have concerns about Ryan but you won't see them on Fox where Fr. Morris who is never adverse to bending over backwards (or forward - metaphorically speaking) in pushing GOP propaganda and, as such, knows best!

In citing Paul Ryan's Catholicism, Fox's very own Catholic Knight of Malta and occasional employee (does litigation) of the Archdiocese of NY, Peter Johnson Jr. immediately pointed out all the "good" Catholic stuff about Ryan; i.e., pro-life, and in favor of the Defense of Marriage Act. (In other words anti-abortion rights and anti--gay marriage - which are the signature issues for the US Conference of Catholic Bishops.) The visual of the list was against a background of a church with a Christian cross. He then played video of Ryan "invoking his religion" - an invoking that is being challenged by other Catholics. He then tossed to Fox's primary source for all things Catholic, their primary clergyman, Fr. Jonathan Morris, a former member of the disgraced "Legion of Christ," who, as he did when he was a "Legionary," continues to serve the interests of the rich and powerful.

As the chyron read "Ryan's Religion and Politics, Defends Budget Using Catholic Principals," Johnson wanted to know if Ryan will help to win a "diverse" Catholic vote. Morris emphasized that he's not a political strategist. (But he has advised his Fox congregation not to vote for President Obama) The oh so cute little padre's baby blues were glowing when he said that he does "know that Ryan has been very serious, very deep in his explanation of why Christian moral principals must be incorporated into things like budget." Ignoring Catholic criticisms of Ryan's budget, Morris described Ryan's claim that his budget is consistent with Catholic teachings and cited how Ryan believes Catholic teachings about "the dignity of life," "the common good," and other awesome Catholic things.

He added the caveat that Ryan "realizes" that "we don't have unlimited resources" and that "sometimes cuts are necessary."  Johnson added that Ryan believes that while we need to help the poor, we should only serve "those truly in need" (So you're not completely paralyzed or living on the streets - screw you!) and that - ready for it - "you need to make cuts so that the least among us" can get benefits. Morris predicted that Ryan's "opponents" will say that Ryan is "immoral" for wanting to hurt the poor. Morris then cited his Facebook link to Ryan's Georgetown speech in which he "outlines an economic philosophy based on his Christian moral principals" and that other politicians should "go deep" into Ryan's beliefs and "not throw out names."

Neither Johnson nor Morris mentioned that Ryan was criticized by the bishops for his budget which they saw as being detrimental to the poor. He didn't mention that 90 members of the Georgetown faculty (including clergy) wrote a letter, in advance of a Ryan speech at Georgetown, which, in criticizing his priorities, said his values are closer to Ayn Rand than the Catholic Church. He didn't mention that Sister Simone Campbell (one of the, according to Rush, "feminazi nuns" who are fighting their rebuke by the Vatican) told Ryan that his budget "rejects church teaching..." But Fox loves to keep their messages simple - "fair & balanced" not so much!