op-ed columnist writes ironically of how Cardinal Roger Mahony is “first-class” pope material. The “first-class” comes from a photo of the cardinal flying to Rome on Saturday while sitting in First Class. The writer, who’s no friend of orthodox Catholic belief incidentally, asks, “Where would Jesus sit.” Now, I’m sure the cardinal’s very expensive PR firm will tell us that the cardinal was given a free upgrade by the airline or something, but that begs the question: Should he accept such perks?
The writer, Steve Lopez, makes the case for Mahony as Pope, tongue firmly in cheek, making it clear that the reason he’d like to see him made Pope is so that he wouldn’t be in LA anymore.
What the church needs, more than ever, is a politically progressive, media-smart leader who can aggressively market the institution even as he keeps a tight lid on its darkest secrets.
Mahony was born for this job.
He mentions how Mahony is “more open-minded than many high-ranking Church officials” on things like homosexuality. He’s also a marketing genius, he says, because he paid for the $200 million Raj Mahal cathedral (money that could have gone to helping the poor, he says) by selling crypts for $50,000, paving stones for $5,000, and wine under the cathedral’s name while managing a huge sex-abuse scandal.
he most amazing thing about the scandal, in fact, is that Mahony continues to pass himself off as a national sex abuse reformer, even as he zealously stonewalls investigators trying to get to the bottom of cases involving priests accused of molesting young boys.
Alleged victims have pleaded and prosecutors have screamed for the cardinal to open up his files on accused priests. So have attorneys handling the 544 civil claims pending against the archdiocese.
Mahony shuts out their cries, and yet he endures, head high.
He’s Teflon.
He’s Hollywood.
He’s first-class.
Yeah, I think LA should keep him for a little while longer.
“ during his Holy Week disaster tour of Indonesia, when he had time to “get away from it all” and meditate. Bishops need love, too. We all need to slow down. Peace out.
This latest one about PJP2 is just sour grapes. The press is desperately trying to make excuses for the fact that so many people have converged on Rome that there is a 24 hour line to pay respects and people are sleeping in the streets. PJP2 was loved.
I’ve heard the one about Cardinal Siri on more than one occasion. I’m not willing to dismiss it. I haven’t heard the Masonic PJ23 one before.
Wow. Does that mean next Easter I can just go AWOL on my job and family and go play golf in Indonesia….where you know, they have the finest golf courses in the world….right.
Oh, but, you know, His Excellency was hard at work; apparently there was no other week of the year that the diocese and the CRS people could work out. (Cough, cough.) Well, maybe Christmas, but you know how testy the earthquakes get that time of year . . . (sorry, that’s not quite nice).
There was a time when I got infuriated every time I saw the late Cardinal Hickey. His successor, Cardinal McCarrick doesn’t always thrill me but I guess I’d better be more thankful because I could’ve ended up in Florida with Bishop Lynch.
I’ve read the Masonic claim about John XXIII. Never found it in a source I’d quote, however. If you want to see who is saying it, Google Roncalli and Masonic together. You’ll get lots of hits.
I’ve just read Dr. Moynihan’s Newsflash from Inside the Vatican. According to him a rumor making the rounds is that JPII has named his successor in his Will which is scheduled to be read tomorrow.
He also was quite concerned that Milan’s cardinal archbishop, Dionigi Tettamanzi might be chosen Pope. According to Moynihan, this cardinal is so liberal that he makes the liberals look conservative.
I think an Italian might be good for the Church, but not this Italian.
A pope can’t choose his successor. Even the intimation that he has tried will affect the results, I would think.
It sometimes happens that someone is “groomed” as successor but I don’t think it really ever works out, at least in modern times.
Speaking of conspiracy theories, I made the terrible mistake of flipping around the channels during the news and found myself watching a deplorable piece on CBS news about the “very secretive, very influential” Opus Dei movement. It mentioned how some “vatican insiders” are a part of this scary group. While it didn’t say this directly, the implication of the piece was that Opus Dei was going to be pulling strings behind the curtains during the conclave—it said a couple of Cardinals are Opus Dei, as are other influential members of the Vatican.
They even mentioned Dan Brown’s ridiculous book. They had a poor young Opus Dei priest on, and the only thing they put on by him was talking about physical acts of mortification. Then they showed how “secretive” the group was by going in and showing the “secret, hidden” chapel where St. Jose Escriva is buried (I thought – well they’re not doing too good a job being secretive about that stuff, are they?)
And to top it all off, their authority on Opus Dei was Frances Kissling (of the totally fake group Catholics for a Free Choice)!! She’s interviewed both at the beginning of the story and at the end, and there was no one defending the group at all. She said that Opus Dei was a “dangerous group”! That coming from a woman who advocates killing babies is just too bizarre to believe.
As the piece was ending Bob Scheiffer said something to the reporter like “Well, they may be secretive, but they’re not really nefarious are they? (or something like that)” and the reporter in Rome said—Well, yes people are very concerned about them because they try to secretly move in and have influence over all sectors of life—business, politics, etc.
In case we were wondering whether CBS would improve after Dan Rather left, it looks like we got our answer. Unbelievable.
There was a conspiracy theory about the death of Pope John Paul I. They say he was murdered by the mafia. Whatever.
I’m not a member of Opus Dei, however, they provide great service to secular priests (retreats, spiritual conferences, books, sacrament of reconciliation, friendships, etc.). Other than my sins in the sacrament, they never seem to be secretive.
Never have they ever seemed secretive. I think what bothers the press is that lay members do not advertize their membership. Furthermore, the directors and priests of Opus Dei do not go around saying who the members are because it is none of our business.
In regards to the “left-wing Catholics” spreading rumors, they are just plain scared. They know they are not going to win and they are not going to get the pope they want. The Church’s teachings will remain the Church’s teachings (which are, by the way, the teachings of Christ).
Chris SCREAMING Mathews had Tucker Carlson do a report on Opus Dei last night, then an interview with an OD priest from Houston, and the rector of the Brooklyn NY Cathedral. It was actually a very moderate, almost pro-OD report. Shocked I was, I tell you!
But I am still wondering why the black bunting was up in my church for Sat 8 am mass…hmmmm…
I don’t think it’s really the Pope’s body in St. Peter’s. It’s a wax figure. He’s alive and receiving embryonic stem cells to cure his Parkinson’s. He’ll re-appear healthy, claim a healing and rule for another 26 years.
Just wanted to prove how easy it is to start a good conspiracy theory. :>
Gee, thanks, Dom! Actually the so-called secular press here in LA (except for the LA Times which always protects its own) has done a fantastic job exposing the whole leadership rot that is Cardinal Mahoney’s tenure.
My favorite recent quote from His Eminence is his comment after viewing the Holy Father’s body. If you’ve seen his remains up close on TV you can tell the Pope’s face is still somewhat frozen in the pain that assailed him over the last decade. But for Mahoney, “I have to say it was satisfying to see him so at peace. He looked happy,” etc etc etc in similar words. A total contradiction to what others who were interviewed said. Is this a congenital inability to see reality? You tell me.
I’m sure that many of his brother cardinals will wait for my cardinal archbishop to cast his vote so that they can then know who *not* to vote for themselves.
BTW Dom, I know that LA most likely deserves Mahony, but please have mercy on us!
Wrong John, NO ONE deserves Cdl. Mahony…!
Sorry Lord – that just slipped out. Mea culpa!
Dear Dom,
Mr Moynihan’s alarm over Cardinal Tettamanzi only shows how far right he and ITV have swung in the wake of the abuse scandal. ITV is now an arm of the Latin Mass Magazine!
He probably did get the free upgrade from the airline. Mother Teresa regularly flew first class, because the airlines considered it a burden to have her in Coach. Persons of notoriety, even minor celebrities like “Hollywood” Raj Mahony, can cause unacceptable delays in boarding and deplaning, not to mention the little problem of everyone leaving their seats during flight and rushing to get an autograph on one side of the plane or another…
People always forget the story of the woman who washed Jesus’s feet with expensive perfume.
Bishop Ozymandias. He reminds me of one of those Louisiana governors who keep getting re-elected, one step ahead of the cops and process servers. One might say Mahony is the Edwin Edwards of the college of cardinals. With one difference: people liked Edwards.
Gee, I wonder if Cardinal Bergoglio has to sign a lot of autographs when he takes the bus to work.
In addition to the ridiculous amount of money he spent building the Taj Mahony, there is also the fact of how ugly, cold and uninspiring it is. As far as I can tell, he and the architect are the only people on earth who think it is anything other than hideous.
And then we get our “Together in Mission” envelopes and a lecture on how we have to help the poor parishes. Not to mention the archdiocese is bleeding money to pay for the abuse cases he hasn’t been able to sweep under the rug.
Does L.A. really deserve him? What if we can find ten good people?
Why do we praise a man that for 26 years had knowledge of molestation within the Catholic church yet did nothing ? His passing is sad because it’s just that – a passing.
I presume you have proof that the Pope knew of the sexual abuse of minors from the day he ascended the papal throne. No, your comment is just ill-considered Catholic bashing so why should you be expected to have a reasoned response.
Some of the non-Catholic tin foil/paranoia types have joined in the fray. For other reasons, of course.
On one prophetic site they say that the Pope died on 4/1. It is supposed to be an occult holy day so the Vatican wanted to hoodwink the rank and file and changed the date. Also it is claimed they did this because “they” knew that in order for JP2 to be buried on the day of an eclipse they had to change the date to fit the “rules”.
This particular site has drug up the Malachy stuff but their endings and descriptions are different from page to page.
It is very weird out there right now.
![CDATA[Tom]]>
tsyseskey@charter.net
68.186.250.57
2005-04-06 18:15:11
2005-04-06 22:15:11
Some other conspiracy theories concerning recent popes and conclaves have recently surfaced.
Pope John XXIII supposedly became a freemason in 1935 and thus was automatically excommunicated. Therefore, his 1958 election as Pope was invalid as well as his convoking of Vatican II in 1962. For more information see: http://the-news.net/cgi-local/story.pl?title=Pope John XXIII – A Freemason?&edition=all
(One may have to cut and past this URL because of its length.)
Giuseppe Cardinal Siri of Genoa was supposedly Pope Pius XII’s hand-picked successor and elected as pope by the College of Cardinals in the 1958 conclave (after the death of Pius XII) and again in the 1963 conclave (after John XXIII) but both times was forced to decline the papacy by the threat of schism from the French and other liberal cardinals so that they could get their choices as pope: John XXIII and Paul VI. For more (too much more) information , see http://www.novusordowatch.org/siri.htm
NO CONSPIRACY THEORY. EVERYONE’S RIGHT-WING TV STATION, FOX NEWS REPORTED THE DEATH OF THE POPE ON THE FRIDAY BEFORE HIS DEATH THE FOLLOWING DAY. THEY DID APOLOGIZE LATER ON. The following is an excerpt from one of the many internet reports.
————————————————————————————————————
Confusing TV Reports About Pope
Fox News Channel erroneously reported the death of Pope John Paul II on Friday afternoon, backpedaled several minutes later, then apologized to viewers for the mistake.
Viewers could be forgiven for confusion as the cable news networks flashed reports at them. At 12:30 p.m. EST, MSNBC posted the words “Pope lost consciousness” on its screen. At the same moment, CNN was reporting: “Pope visibly joining in prayers of those around him.’’
But at 1:23 p.m., Fox News Channel anchor Shepard Smith reported that the pope had died. At least initially, he did not cite sources.
By 1:30 p.m., Fox reporter Greg Palkot in Rome was sending signals of caution, saying the report had not been confirmed and the network was checking into it.
“The exact time of death, I think, is not something that matters so much at this moment for we will be reliving John Paul’s life for many days and weeks and even years and decades and centuries to come,” Smith said.
Smith explained to viewers that a Fox sister company in Italy had been listening to an inaccurate report and it was transmitted to Fox.
Fox spokeswoman Irena Briganti said a Fox producer, monitoring a translation of reports from Italian media, erroneously shouted that the pope had died and it had gotten on the air through an open mike. Smith was responding to the producer’s words.
About 1:55 p.m., Smith apologized to Fox viewers for the initial unsubstantiated report.
“As way of explanation, I am very sorry, which is all I can say,’’ Smith said.
About five minutes after Fox’s report, CNN reported that there were conflicting news agency reports about whether the pope was still alive. One of its Vatican reporters, Delia Gallagher, said CNN had no independent confirmation and “we have to be very careful.”
The Associated Press sent an advisory to its members at 1:31 p.m. that some Italian media were reporting the pope was dead and that the AP was trying to verify the reports. At 1:55 p.m., the AP sent a NewsAlert that the Vatican had denied he was dead.
“There are a lot of conflicting reports over there and we apologize for the confusion,” CNN’s Miles O’Brien told viewers.
CBS News was aware of the Italian news report of the pope’s death but decided not to air the report without additional confirmation.
I don’t know where you got this but it’s bunk. Actually it was CNN that first reported the Pope died while Fox was more cautious and said there were reports that the Pope had died. The networks, ABC, CBS, NBC all reported the Pope had died too as did a bunch of newspaper web sites.
I dont_author_IP>67.138.142.235
2005-04-06 12:16:25
2005-04-06 16:16:25
That is nauseating. What a contrast to the email I received yesterday from Priests for Life director, Fr. Pavone. He called it like it was – murder.