First, anywhere where there is a political and economic power structure, there is going to be quite a bit of incest. I work for a 501(c)3 with quite a number of corporate CEOs, presidents, university chancellors and more than one mover and shaker in town on the board and one day the CEO of a company with franchises nationwide (you'd know the name if I identified it) walked into a board meeting and said, "And I had breakfast with you yesterday, and lunch with you, and saw you the day before" and on and on. That's the way it is everywhere. Money and power attracts money and power. The people in control of money and power want to keep it that way and they know how. So, that part wasn't so shocking to me. It would not hurt, IMO, the more naive and gullible to see how it's all inter-connected. The tidbit about the Tides Foundation being a laundering mechanism was something I didn't know. Truth be told, it's all rather diabolically brilliant.
Cardinal Bernardin was, frankly, more powerful (and popular) in the church than the pope. This whole common good/social justice, seamless garment stuff is very much HIS legacy. That was not expounded upon well at all in this presentation and should have been, IMO. Some of Old Joe's protoges are still in office. Once they're gone, I suspect things will change more. Two popes in a row have chosen to replace them by attrition which is seen to be contributing to the whole credibility issue. In the meantime, if bishops are going to be singled out, be it the ones in whose dioceses these people live, not the few who are actually willing to make a statement. Cardinal George, yes, has made his mistakes, but how many of these people live in and are members of his archdiocese. If they do not live in Chicago, he does not have the jurisdiction to excommunicate them. That is called interfering in the governance of another archdiocese and that is a huge no-no. Rumor has it two rather outspoken bishops have been reassigned to non-administrative roles for doing just that.
Another thing to remember, and this often falls on deaf ears here on FR among Catholics, the office of bishop is, above and beyond anything, a pastoral office. Discipline isn't undertaken as an example, but as a corrective measure to bring a sinner back to communion. In this climate, excommunicate the wrong person and you'll lose more souls than just that one. Not that that is necessarily an excuse, but we live in explosive times. Everything laid out in this presentation explains how that was set up. Those who have been influenced with these campaigns think with their hearts. The campaigns appeal to that. That may well have been part of the plan. Lose the hearts of the people and the souls will follow. There's also a lot that goes on behind the scenes. Seriously. Not everything is in the public eye and for good reason and I have good reason to know this. Who knows what some of these guys have in mind for the coming years or how Rome might influence things in the future, much like what they are doing with the Mass.
As for these campaigns by the "liberal progressives", now that we know what they are, why not counter with campaigns along the same lines? I realize it would take a lot of patience, work and controlling the vitriol, but it's doable. Bishops aside, it's not like it can't be done.
Thank you for your comments. Concerning Cardinal George, he is president of the USCCB, which has sired these fake Catholic groups, and he fully supports CCHD which plays an important role in electing Democrats by giving one third of its money to community organizing groups (which in turn register Democratic voters). http://www.all.org/pdf/fullcchdreportfinal.pdf
One such group, Chicago Workers Collaborative, is located in Cardinal George’s diocese. It is a Marxist organization and its executive director spread propaganda for the Communist Sandinistas in the Nicaraguan civil war. http://www.mrc.org/timeswatch/articles/2010/20100501074343.aspx
http://www.witnessforpeace.org/article.php?list=type&type=89
Also the infamous Father Pfleger is a priest of the Chicago diocese. Cardinal George’s pastoral discipline is pathetic.