All he has done is read the writing on the wall. He wants to remain Cardinal Archbishop of New York and not "promoted" to obscurity at the Vatican so Pope Benedict XVI can appoint someone else.
Pope Benedict XVI collaborated with Cardinal Saraiva Martins on the idea of the Mandatum for Colleges and Universities -- but it is well known that Pope Benedict believes in driving out non-Catholic universities and schools even if it leaves the Church with only a handful of truly Catholic institutions of higher learning.
If I were Notre Dame and Marquette, I would be worried about now.
This is excellent news. And while we shouldn't assume that Egan supported the move, let's not assume that he didn't. When someone does the right thing, he/she should normally be thanked. Whatever Egan's motives, he will be attacked for this. We need to defend him.
Perhaps if there is enough of this decertification -- which we can hope will be quietly or not-so-quietly encouraged by the new Pope -- some of these BS institutions will actually be driven out of business. That would be a good thing. Some of the kids would end up at genuinely Catholic institutions, and some would go to the usual leftist places -- but without the phony Catholic label. Their leftist "education" won't be served up with pseudo-religious sanctimony, and things will be a tiny bit more clear to them. That's my guess, anyway.
I hope Benedict XVI "promotes" him anyway. We need another pastor in the mold of + O'Connor who uses the pulpit of the Archbishop of New York to proclaim the Gospel. Egan would rather be in Rome, albeit as prefect and not as an archpriest or some such obscure role.
Pope Benedict believes in driving out non-Catholic universities and schools even if it leaves the Church with only a handful of truly Catholic institutions of higher learning.
I couldn't agree with him more. Truth in advertising.
He's slated for retirement soon enough.
Was O'Connor really the stand-up gut he get credit for being? Sometimes I wonder if he couldn't have done more.
ELS: do you have any theory about Myers's chances to swim the Hudson?