Small world!
Tuesday May 30, 2006
Today I received a wonderful e-mail from an old friend who'd read "Crunchy Cons" and sent word that he'd very much enjoyed it. The friend is Father Winthrop Brainerd, the very fine Catholic priest who instructed me in the faith and ushered me into the Catholic Church (at the hands of Cardinal Hickey) back in 1993. Last I'd heard, he was prospering greatly at a parish in Georgetown, where his traditionalism had boosted attendance greatly. That sort of thing apparently put him crossways Cardinal McCarrick, the Archbishop of Washington and the Jersey Shore Beach House, who forcibly retired him and sent Fr. Brainerd to a suburban Maryland parish. Happily, Father Brainerd seems to be serving his people well there, and it was a real pleasure to hear from him again, especially because he found the book's themes so congenial. And get this: it was Father Brainerd who celebrated and preached the memorial mass for Russell Kirk!
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About Crunchy Con
Rod Dreher is an editorial columnist for the Dallas Morning News, and author of "Crunchy Cons" (Crown Forum), a nonfiction book about conservatives, most of them religious, whose faith and political convictions sometimes put them at odds with mainstream conservatives. The views expressed in this blog are his own.
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All of this helps further a hypothesis I've had about Rod's sources in the Catholic world, i.e., they aren't always very good. I can't expect them to get better if he's leaving for E.O., but either way "assuming the worst" as he calls it isn't the best way to operate and is lazy journalism at the very least and fairly reckless behavior for a Catholic to undertake against the church.
I had begun to suspect this when he was moaning about the Cd. Levada / CDF move. A Vatican insider I spoke to said everyone agrees that Benedict still is in charge of the congregation with Levada being pretty much titular head only. So I don't know why he didn't mention this unless he actually had no clue.
If a priest is charismatic and has a thriving parish there's a good chance that he's going to get moved around -- that's just how things work and arguably have worked for a long time. Likewise with bishops. Making unsubstantiated speculations about the motives of a bishop whom you don't like to begin with is obviously shaky ground.>
I didn't mean for my message to be taken as an attack on Rod, simply to express my perspective as someone who grew up at the parish to which Fr. Brainerd was moved, and who attends mass there whenever back in town.
My impression of the situation is simply that Fr. Brainerd reacted quite bitterly to the move, and by taking his anger and hurt to the press, created a lopsided impression of what actually took place. Naturally, he was hurt, but that doesn't excuse his open defiance of his Cardinal over what is ultimately an administrative matter.
I will concede that the transfer was essentially a demotion, but if Cdl. McCarrick really wanted to punish him, he could have sent him into exhile in Southern Maryland or to assist at a DC parish in a bad neighborhood with a liberal pastor.
Based on what I have heard, the main motivation for the transfer was Fr. Brainerd's lack of success in implimenting the Cardinal's fundraising efforts.
It's just somewhat insulting to St. Bernadette's parishioners to imply that we are a somehow inferior parish. In fact, some priest friends have mentioned that it would be a plum job once the pastor retires, given its prime location and large community.
In the last 20 or so years, it has been the launching pad for a bishop (David Foley in Birmingham, of EWTN fame) and the secretary to Cardinal Baum in Rome, now pastor of Old St. Mary's and a very young monsignor(Msgr. Bart Smith). The priest we lost when Fr. Brainerd came is now at St. Matthew's Cathedral.
I have nothing against Fr. Brainerd, but I feel he could have spared the community from what he perceived (and likely still perceives) as personal injustices committed against him.
For the record, while I am not Cdl. McCarrick's biggest fan, I don't believe he has suppressed orthodoxy in the parishes - as a matter of fact, one of his first actions was to enforce kneeling in the more liberal parishes. He has also worked hard to promote vocations. Yes, he's a politician, and yes there is speculation about possible personal indiscretions, but it could have been MUCH worse.>
Two more notes addressing points above:
1. His title on the parish bulletin is "Senior Priest." I guess that's somewhere below "pastor," above "parochial vicar," but with less responsibility than "Associate Pastor." He's one of 2 priests at the parish, and he's in the regular scheduled rotation. "Retired" is a poor choice in words.
2. He seems like a nice guy, but "charismatic" is hardly the word for him, unless he has gone through a serious character change as a result of the demotion.>
It's just somewhat insulting to St. Bernadette's parishioners to imply that we are a somehow inferior parish.
Exactly. As a member of a small rural parish, I resent that sort of implication. Are souls less immortal in less tony, prominent parishes? St. John Vianney certainly didn't seem to think so. :p
Besides, whatever happened to small and local = better? Suddently it seems big, prominent, and well-heeled = better.
Non capisco.
Diane>
I feel bad for people like Fr. Weinberger and Fr. Brainerd (assuming that Rod is giving the full story on them), but I think that the frequent moving of pastors is one of few good phenomena of the post-Vatican II Church. A priest in one place for a long time can build up a cult of personality that can as easily lead to a Fr. Cuenin as a Fr. Brainerd.>
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