Michael Sean Winters reports on how those attending the NCR’s Washington Briefing yesterday received Sister Carol Keehan, CEO and President of the Catholic Health Association:

The room rose as one. The applause was loud, not to say raucous, and
it was sustained.

That applause came from somewhere deep in the consciousness of the
assembled Catholics, all of whom share a commitment to the Church’s
social justice traditions and teaching. It came from the years of
frustration as successive presidents failed to find the political
calculus needed to enact universal health coverage. It came, most
especially, from the recognition that we almost encountered another
chapter in that catalogue of frustration. But, at the last minute,
Sister Carol, with that counter-cultural combination of a wealth of
knowledge and experience and the unique authenticity of one who has
chosen poverty, provided the moral push that pushed health care reform
across the finish line.

But was it loud enough for the bishops to hear?