As I was reflecting on Pope Benedict, the whole episode last year over denial of Communion to pro-abortion politicians came to mind and how Cardinal McCarrick said Cardinal Ratzinger’s letter to him said one thing and then when we saw the actual text, it said something completely different.
Thus, kudos to Diogenes for being the first one out of the gate with this one:
“... when Pope Benedict XVI issues his first encyclical letter, should we ask to see the whole text, or just rely on Cardinal McCarrick to give us a quick summary?”
I wonder how that whole issue is going to end up under this Pope? Wouldn’t want to be a pro-abortion Catholic politician in the next round of elections.
I live in the Archdiocese of San Antonio, and we just had a wonderful Archbishop in some ways but one retire. You see, Charlie Gonzalez (as when his father, Henry B. was alive) and Zero (Ciro) Rodriguez as well Henry Cuellar are all “Catholics” who “respect the Pope” and “go to Mass” and were good friends with him apparently. Now we have a much better shepherd who want let the local Catholic universities continue to apostasize and the local associates of MURDER to continue to stay in good standing.
If we start excommunicating pro-abort political apostates, I have a few that I would like to refer for the chopping block.
(In jest – would “Catholic” pro-abortion politicians “live” in the days of the Spanish Inquisition?”
Until America stops killing em cheap and stack em deep yours in the Pro-Life protest squads of the Gospel of Life.
Peter Rowe
Are you kidding, Dom? Being a “pro-abortion Catholic politician” will be a guaranteed re-election stand come the next round. Look for the MSM to run “Profiles in Courage” praising the “courageous” “torn” and “conflicted” politicos who are “personally devout” but feel “alienated” by a new, cold “ultra-conservative” papacy and a “theocratic” blurring of the holy dividing wall between church and state. If any crypto-Protestant loses his seat, I’ll be surprised. Happy, but surprised. Benedict XVI (God grant him long life) is the best thing the secularists and trimmers in the Church could have short of a Pope Mahoney.
Cardinal McCarrick, alias “The Fixer”, is as devious as they come. He plays the honest broker while undermining every “conservative” initiative he comes across. Deferring consideration of the excommunication of pro-abortion Catholic politicians until after the presidential election; weighing down pro-life initiatives with anti-death penalty baggage [as if guilt and innocence were synonymous terms]—these are deft political strokes, and we can expect more of them against a pope he may well have voted for, but cannot be very happy with.
I think the strategy against Benedict is going to be death by a thousand cuts, allowing his initiatives to bleed themselves dry at the hands of obdurate bishops and hostile diocesan bureaucracies, and creating a papacy ending in exhaustion, futility, and a new conclave raring to go in a “bold new direction”.
I’d be inclined to see your point peterdamien, if the conclave had drug on longer. What we got instead was what almost appeared to be a landslide.
The best hope for this Pope will be the people in the pews, and going along with them, the blogosphere, of course. Liberal bishops will have a much harder time holding out if the laity oppose them. That’s how I see it, anyway.
Christopher,
Surely you are not suggesting that an orthodox pope should not be elected because he presents too great a target to the liberal media? Perhaps then we ought to cede the field and await the inevitable “Pope Mahony”.
It will be interesting to see what happens this summer: Cardinal McCarrick turns 75 in July. Will Pope Benedict XVI immediately accept his resignation, or will he let him continue to serve?
(A very important question for me, since I live in the Archdiocese of Washington).
I think the hierarchy is in for a surprise—quite possible gentle but still a surprise. People don’t really realize (in my opinion) what Parkinson’s really does and doesn’t do to someone. Pope Benedict is going to be much harder to stall than Pope John Paul the Great was at his end. I believe his suffering was a special gift to the church but I also think it is the *young* pope who is now in heaven giving Pope Benedict strength (as the Pope himself seems to think).
Carrie,
If it was a landslide (which would be odd, seeing as it took several (4?) ballots), that may only mean that the Usual Suspects saw the writing on the wall and chose to return to stealth mode. Do you really think that Mahony, McCarrick and the rest of the liberal lads are bubbling with enthusiasm for a pope who is known as a disciplinarian who does not suffer fools gladly?
What I think is that “stealth mode” is going to be a whole lot more undercover than it has been in the past. And that undercover may have already begun as you indicate. But if those hiding out want to remain inconspicuous, upsetting the laity is not going to be the way to do it. They will be caught in the middle, between a younger generation of laity who like orthodoxy and a Pope who knows how to make it happen.
But then that is partially wishful thinking. It’s really too soon to know.
Peterdamien –
Certainly not. I was overjoyed at the election of the Holy Father. My point was a cynical rejoinder, in that “principled opposition” (or whatever the catchphrase will be) to abortion orthodoxy will be, I think, a winning card for any pro-abort “Catholic” politician to play, and not a millstone as Dom predicts. A “hammer” like Benedict will be a much more easily caricatured target for the Kisslings and Kerrys of the world than (say) a cuddly, warm PC figure like Arinze, who might have the same views as Benedict but be the target of fewer criticisms by the left because of his ethnicity.
But that’s me. I’m very cynical when it comes to the American Catholic Church and the media.
Does anyone else think, as I have, that McCarrick loves the limelight? He kept holding press conferences after the pope died. We saw him on the steps of the DC cathedral, then at the airport, clearly LOVING the spotlight. Then he hogged the question and answer session with the US Cardinals after the selection of Benedict.
One glory of the modern media: you are shown as you ARE. What I mean bc you talk and talk and are videotaped and recorded and then aired for the general Catholic to see, you can’t hide, you are out there and people see what you’re like. For better or worse. I think with McCarrick, it’s for the worse. He comes off as a limelight loving man who likes to talk about himself…..now Benedict, in his interview for EWTN, taped last year, he comes across as joyful, softspoken, intelligent, humble, did I say INTELLIGENT?, very intelligent, and he spoke more of the person of Jesus Christ than of himself.
I think the McCarrick will get the gold watch on his 75th. I have long suspected that he is being blackmailed, and his retirement may come as a welcome escape from that position.
John Hearn,
Wha? Please explain.
Cardinal McCarrick usually speaks for the US bishops so I see no signs of his being a limelight hog. Ever since Cardinal Hickey’s funeral he’s really made a strong impression on people and many people were touched by his successful effort made to improve the reverence and beauty of the Holy Week services at the cathedral..
He’s also done a good job of paying attention to the huge Hispanic community in the DC diocese. I’d be surprised if he left this summer and even if he does he’ll probably end up in the Curia.
Oh one more thing. Detraction is a sin.