Perhaps hoping to begin to move on from scandals and crises, Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston gave a major speech last night on Catholic-Jewish relations sponsored by the Anti-Defamation League at a local Jewish community center. Certainly there’s nothing wrong with this emphasis—his predecessor was also frequently recognized for his work with leaders of other faiths in Boston to confront social ills in a unified front—but I’m left noting that if this is a major new intiative, a certain notoriously heterodox priest has been put on the front lines (which the Boston Globe has also noticed.)
Instead of a parish of 2,700 households, [Fr. Walter Cuenin] now guides a group of fewer than 500 Catholics—about 15 percent of the students at this predominantly Jewish university. Instead of a grand church with vaulted ceilings, stained-glass windows, and wooden pews, his new home is a modest chapel with whitewashed stucco walls, Spartan decorations, and metal folding chairs.
... Cuenin said he approached the archdiocese about the Brandeis position after learning of the opening last December. He visited with students and staff, and a short time later the archdiocese accepted his proposal.
Meanwhile, we can expect Cuenin to continue to spread the errors of his ways to the impressionable young students of Brandeis, watering down and outright trampling on the Church’s teachings.
He said the brochure and his campus lectures have prompted people to approach him privately, including students and staff encouraged by his support of gay rights. Sham predicted that Cuenin will “draw in more people that felt marginalized by the church,” including members of the gay and lesbian community.
Doesn’t Cardinal O’Malley care that Cuenin is leading his flock astray? Why does he keep a priest in ministry who so undermines the truth? After all, we’ve had evidence that Cuenin is looking into splitting off and setting up his own church.
In June, Cuenin is due to receive an award from a Boston radical gay activist group. Can O’Malley continue to ignore this?
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