Chris Weinkopf has been on the phone interviewing LA's Cardinal Mahony. Read the whole thing yourself, or be satisfied with Chris's summary line: All in all, the Cardinal's comments seem to boil down to: I'm sorry people were hurt, but I didn't do anything wrong.
As Mark Shea sums up the character of this Malfoy of Malibu:
Always able to remember what is to his advantage. Never able to remember what is to his disadvantage. Quick to compare himself favorably to Cardinal Law and urge him to resign, a man Fr. Richard McBrien called the future of the Church. Full of scolding for others in the abuse crisis. Laboring to keep his own filthy skirts clean. The sort of man who first response to the crisis of priestly abuse is to stonewall and hire an ad agency.
And you know, his job is safe. That's the thing that I cannot understand, and never will understand about the Catholic Church: why the Vatican continues to allow malfeasants like Mahony to remain in office. John Paul removed Bishop Gaillot, a far-left French bishop, for (thoroughly justified) theological reasons. But somehow, a Cardinal Mahony, who has done far more damage to the Church, skates. It makes no sense to me. I'm not longer a Catholic, as you know, and I'm not angry (anymore) at the Catholic Church, but honestly, this "stand by the bishop no matter what he's done, short of a crime" strategy is so damaging to the Church's authority. Yes?
Add to Del.icio.us
Add to Technorati
Add to Digg
Add to Newsvine
Add to Facebook
Add to StumbleUpon
Subscribe
A good tree is not able to bear bad fruit, nor is a poisonous tree able to bear good fruit. We know the Catholic Church to be a poisonous tree, Ron. Why do we continue to expect good fruit from it?
Maybe because there has been so much good fruit. Hospitals? Schools? Charitable institutions? Ever heard of any of these things?
ds0490,
I pray that you will find the peace for your soul that you are looking for. Please, pray for me as well.
Andrew
A good tree is not able to bear bad fruit, nor is a poisonous tree able to bear good fruit. We know the Catholic Church to be a poisonous tree, Ron. Why do we continue to expect good fruit from it?
Because of her saints.
Erin Manning said it all. My hunch is that Mahony will be/has been told that he is hanging by a canonical thread insofar as B XVI is concerned. Even the gentle, soft-spoken JP II, soon after he learned about the extent of the abuse, was reported to have pounded the table and thunder at Mahony and other American prelates "You have all betrayed me!"
Nevertheless, I fear that Mahony will not curtail the harm to the Church done (a) by his hideous, anti-Catholic national religious education conferences and (b) by the example of his horrible liturgy and general religious philosophy, such as pro-abortion legislators receiving communion.
May God help him.
David White responded to me:
ds: A good tree is not able to bear bad fruit, nor is a poisonous tree able to bear good fruit. We know the Catholic Church to be a poisonous tree, Ron. Why do we continue to expect good fruit from it?
David White: Maybe because there has been so much good fruit. Hospitals? Schools? Charitable institutions? Ever heard of any of these things?
David, Hamas is known in the Palestinian community as providing many social services, from health care to education, from delivering food to providing emergency medicine to the sick.
Would you consider them a rotten or a good tree?
Post a Comment
By submitting these comments, I agree to the beliefnet.com terms of service, rules of conduct and privacy policy (the "agreements"). I understand and agree that any content I post is licensed to beliefnet.com and may be used by beliefnet.com in accordance with the agreements.