The Most Rev. Thomas J. Tobin, bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence, was at the State House to deliver invocations and blessings on inauguration day. He returned last week — albeit vicariously and unwittingly — when Rep. Douglas W. Gablinske, D-Bristol, read from the bishop’s writings on the House floor.

In his first speech on the floor, the freshman legislator read from a column printed in the Jan. 18 issue of the Providence Visitor, a weekly publication of the diocese. The column’s title: “In Praise of Politicians.”

For those who missed the special inaugural Mass Jan. 2, the inauguration ceremony that afternoon or the Assembly session later that day, the bishop quoted from his remarks at each event.

He wrote of his “personal respect” for politicians and his “sincere appreciation of the nature of their work.”

“How should we relate to politicians?” the bishop asked. His answer: “We should be grateful for their service. We should respect them and encourage them. When necessary we should challenge them. And we should pray for them …”

In an attempt “to maintain neutrality and independence in regards to individuals’ political campaigns and parties,” the Visitor announced a decision last summer to stop accepting political ads promoting particular candidates. However, the diocese pledged at the time to “continue to educate its readers about Catholic teachings” on political issues such as abortion, stem cell research and same-sex marriage. And the Rev. Bernard A. Healey is paid $975 a month to lobby for diocesan interests at the State House, according to a report filed with the secretary of state’s office.

Bishop Tobin’s column named no specific politicians. He wrote that, despite the existence of “self-serving scoundrels” among Rhode Island’s political class, he’s found the vast majority “to be intelligent, personable and respectful.”

“Let’s face it,” he wrote, “there are scoundrels in every profession — corporate CEOs, union officials, police officers, media personalities, professional athletes, doctors, accountants, teachers, priests and I dare say, even bishops. But that’s part of the human condition, isn’t it? And of course it’s always wrong to condemn all the members of a group because of the bad behavior of a few.”

In a portion of the column Gablinske did not read on the floor, Bishop Tobin alluded to a Providence Journal article that reported the governor used taxpayer money to pay for invitations to the inaugural Mass. He called objections to that expenditure “silly and short-sighted.”

“There’s a long and dignified tradition of the community praying for its leaders,” he wrote, “and I can’t think of a more dignified and effective use of state funds …”

Gablinske said a copy of the column was mailed to him by a constituent. He gave a disclaimer — “I’m not Catholic and I’m not here to promote Catholicism” — and said he was reading the column aloud because “I really respect this man, and thought his words brightened my day, and I hope they will you.”

--By Elizabeth Gudrais, Katherine Gregg and Scott Mayerowitz

Journal State House Bureau