A friend sends along the following thoughts concerning why otherwise orthodox and reliable bishops won’t stand up against CINO politicians. I don’t necessarily endorse the speculation, but I find it interesting and it could be an explanation of things:
I think it’s possible that Cardinal George and Archbishop O’Malley reason like this: “If I deny Kerry communion, he’ll defy me. And he’ll find a priest to defy me. That means I’ll have to discipline the priest, and probably a whole series of priests. The media reaction will be staggering. I may well not enjoy the support of more than a few fellow bishops and can live with that, but I absolutely have to have the Holy See back me up on this. That’s non-negotiable. What confidence do I have in this regard? Arinze and Ratzinger clearly, and the Pope probably, will be in my corner. But ultimately the decision will rest with Sodano. If I suspend priests, and Sodano stabs me in the back by reinstating them the way Wright did to O’Boyle, my episcopate will become a joke for the rest of my term. The Pope might disagree with Sodano on the subject, but he is too weak to face him down now—especially if Sodano presents him with a fait accompli, and especially if the media coverage beats the priest-sex-abuse drum as loud as possible in order to foreground Church hypocrisy, etc.—as they almost inevitably will. Arinze is making the right noises on this, but Arinze has zero to say on the issue of suspended priests, and his opinion counts for nothing in a showdown. The worst possible scenario is for us (U.S. bishops) to get tough, to get undercut from Above, and then to be forced to cave. Better to play it safe and instruct the voters about abortion as clearly as we can.”
Update: See below.
How much worse will it be for the Bishops if Kerry gets into office, and goes to town on abortion, stem cell, cloning, gay marriage, and everything else? I think the deference that attaches to the office will make it much more scandalous if the Bishops are then compelled to do something—that would be a worst case scenario.
If they do something about it now, at least they have the cover (in peoples minds) that he’s a candidate, like Al Sharpton, Ralph Nader, Lyndon Larouche, Vermin Supreme, and all the other Crazy Candidates, rather than the most powerful man on the planet.
O’Malley already blew it by passing the buck to the USCCB. The proper way to do this is for each of the possible blockers (ie Cardinal Sodano, Ratzinger, etc.) to preempt appeal just like Cardinal Arinze has done. “Green Light” the imposition of Canon 915 globally on the abortion question.
Dom, why should the initaitive always be with the pro-aborts?
Sorry for the ignorance, but who is Cardinal Sodano again? What is his position/authority/arguement?
“Better to play it safe”
So much for living ‘in persona Christi.’
Cardinal Sodano is the second-most powerful man in the Vatican after the Pope, not Ratzinger as is commonly thought. Sodano is the Secretary of State, but it’s not like the American office of the same name. He’s really the Prime Minister to the Pope’s “King”.
Here’s an article from Catholic World Report that discusses the power players in the Vatican.
This article discusses the different offices in the Vatican and their various roles.
I’d like to think that something else is running in their head, not craven political calculations.
Better a Bishop who is a secret Satanist and active homosexual than an aging curmugeon managing his political standing in the secular world.
When the Pope and Jesus are your only bosses, who cares what everyong else thinks?
Jim,
you are dead right
“Better a Bishop who is a secret Satanist and active homosexual than an aging curmugeon managing his political standing in the secular world. “
Really? Most of the bishops do actively try to manage their political standing in the secular world. Worse are the many who do that AND practice homosexual perversity. Even worse are the ones who do all three.