John Allen is brilliant and his respect for Pope John Paul II is authentic. However, his conclusion that the convention in Orland is “about as representative a cross-section of mainstream, meat-and-potatoes, Mass-going Catholics as you’re likely to get in the United States” is silly. A class of Catholic administrators had the ability to afford to go to Orlando and they are not going to rock the boat and take a pay cut by criticizing Francis.
Exactly. The bishops and diocesan workers and Catholic media folks at this pow-wow are “the establishment.” They’re not the rank-and-file Catholics in the pews. I’m sorry. If you’re a faithful Catholic and you’re not deeply disturbed by many of the things that Pope Francis has said and done, you’re not paying attention.