"This was a decision directly from the Pope. Levada was already asked, and has accepted. If it ends up not happening, it means somebody got to [the Pope] and convinced him to change his mind."
What an odd thing for the "source in the Vatican" to say, don't you think?
I agree with you. It doesn't past the smell test.
Let's wait and see how this pans out. It could have actually been a brilliant move on Pope Benedict's part. He may wish to keep the archbishop close for re-education purposes and he may have something in mind for the U.S., which needs reigning in.
We do have to remember that some of these "sources" had Cardinal Mahony being elected Pope, so I think it should be taken with a grain of salt. I can't imagine that Levada would be the head of anything as important as the CDF, but I can imagine that he will be removed from SF - however, in such a way that he will not be humiliated. He's been awful, but he's been quietly awful; as a result, he will probably be given a Vatican position that simply gets him off the stage.
Fr. Fessio knows the Pope very well, and Fr. Fessio is from SF - in fact, he suffered at the hands of the very heterodox Jesuits at USF who now appear to be big buddies with Levada - so maybe somebody has already "gotten to the Pope," as Time puts it.
Another Jesuit-order termite...