Papal Honors awarded to priests, religious, laity of LA Archdiocese (Mahony Alert!)

Click on Source URL for photos of priest recipients.

Over at his WITL blog, Rocco Palmo has rung in with this glowing assessment. Guess it "takes one, to know one".

Purple Monsoon

The Hissing Chorus of Consistent Mahony-hate -- who, inexplicably, are always with us -- has been conspicuously silent on a very interesting development in the City of Angels. The Rog has gone all out.

In his goodness, Benedict XVI has deigned to shower an unprecedented monsoon of papal honors on the archdiocese of Los Angeles. Being from Philadelphia -- where making Purple Rain every third year is a crucial element of our ecclesiastical stock in trade -- I have never seen an honors list the size of what LA just got. It is, simply put, HUGE, and if it's not a sign of the Holy See's confidence in Mahony, I don't know what is.

At the Cardinal's behest, seventeen monsignors have either been created or promoted, which is fairly typical by mega-diocese standards. But where it gets amazing is that over 200 laypeople have been given a Vatican gong of some sort, with a stunning 150 alone being given the Benemerenti medal, the entry-level lay award. As a tribute tax must be paid to the Holy See in gratitude for its conferral of each honor, this list will be a fiscal boon in Rome.

And some dare presume that Papa Bear is frowning upon the nation's largest diocese.... Well, that Rome has heard the Rog loud and clear on this one sure takes some wind out of that argument's sails, no? (Hence no comment from the Mahony-haters.)

In the judgment of the Holy See, it seems, there's a lot in Los Angeles Catholicism worth honoring.... Yet another signal to the anti-Mahony crowd to get up to speed and back to communion.

In the judgment of the Holy See, it seems, there's a lot in Los Angeles Catholicism worth honoring.... Yet another signal to the anti-Mahony crowd to get up to speed and back to communion.

What is your take (if any) on this move?

I have never seen an honors list the size of what LA just got.

Uhhh...maybe that's because the L.A. archdiocese is nearly four times the population of Philadelphia. Y'think?

**Pope Benedict XVI has accorded the papal honor of Protonotary Apostolic to four priests of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, and the title of Monsignor to 13 others.**

Getting ready for some new bishops????

**At the Cardinal's behest**

Hmmmm.

(Hence no comment from the Mahony-haters.)

Here's one...what if the extra "attention" is not any kind of endorsement at all, but rather a way for Rome to influence the next generation of church leaders in LA?

Just a thought...and hey Rocco, nobody hates Mahony. We just think he's a terrible bishop, a modernist flirt, has an architectural Philistine, and we all hope he's deposed.

**At the Cardinal's behest**

What's the evidence of that? Maybe this is a case of when they're running you out of town, get out in front and act like it's a parade.

We could really use some info on some of these appointments.

Rather that just ass-u-me-ing (as Rocco does) that all the priests honoured are Mahony-clones, and that their parishes are clones of Rog's cathedral parish, let's have a look:

Somebody else carry on ... I haven't time. Holy Trinity Parish looks bad ..."Zen Interfaith Retreat"????? The other three I didn't see an obvious problem.

What is your take (if any) on this move?

None. I'm not from LA and without knowing anything about these priests, am utterly clueless to assess the situation. Mahony has no fans here in this forum.

Just a thought

And a good one at that!

nobody hates Mahony. We just think he's a terrible bishop, a modernist flirt, has an architectural Philistine, and we all hope he's deposed.

Along with a few other US bishops who should be strung from the rafters.

These are largely meaningless honorifics that often have more to do with politicking than anything else.

When Msgr. Ronald Knox was raised to the dignity of being a Protonotary Apostolic (back in the 1920s), he wrote a spoof of a Gilbert and Sullivan tune which he entitled: "I Am The Very Model Of An Apostolic Protonotary."

The other three I didn't see an obvious problem.

Thanks for posting those links!!

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These are largely meaningless honorifics that often have more to do with politicking than anything else.

That's the part that I was interested in. Is this move, as the blogger suggests, a vote of confidence for Mahony or merely wishful thinking by the blogger.

Gaaaak! Howintheheck did I miss THAT?

1) It's being led by a female who is

2) bragging about her master's degree.

I wonder ... in what discipline does she hold that degree, and where she got it?

The Knights of Columbus are conspicuous by their absence in these parishes.

That's usually a bad sign.

For an archdiocese that has ca. 3 million Catholics, this is not at all unprecedented. LA is the largest archdiocese in the country so one must assume there are some good Catholics residing there, despite the best efforts of their Cardinal.

And let's get one thing straight--nobody *hates* Cardinal Mahoney. Many of us feel that he's been an absolute failure as a bishop in the largest archdiocese in America. The number of vocations in his archdiocese is pathetic. He's got a sex abuse scandal brewing that will make Boston look like a tea-party. And his response to the Vatican's latest pronouncement on homosexuals in the priesthood was to say: "This will not change how we do business in LA."

If anything, Cardinal Mahoney needs more prayers than your average bishop.

In my opinion, the Vatican knows full well what kind of bishop Mahoney is, but is content to make nice with him until his retirement--which, sadly, is still a decade away. Picking a fight with him, absent a serious theological or moral problem, is probably seen as counterproductive. Either that, or Archbishop Levada, who has the Pope's ear, has told him that the simmering sex abuse scandal in LA will soon require a one-way ticket to Rome for his emminenece. I hear Cardinal Law needs a roommate.

Wishful thinking. Hundreds of other dioceses worldwide will receive similar awards of honorifics in their dioceses.

So many were given in Mahony's diocese because the Greater Los Angeles area has more Catholics than any other US urban center.

Pure Mahony.

This is his gong list. The Vatican side is just a rubber stamp, a little like the secular Queen's honors list which comes out a couple of times a year in the UK. "Sir Elton John........Sir Mick Jagger......etc". The Pope has no idea who Charlie Smirk from Manhattan Beach might happen to be.

Rocco is way off the mark. This is the Mahony PR machine in top gear. It's his way of playing the sugar daddy and handing out the candy when diocesan morale may be a little low. The Archdiocese is currently under siege over the records of clerical molesters. Surely just a coincidence!

Toss a few bones to the dogs. That'll keep 'em happy.

The Knights of Columbus are conspicuous by their absence in these parishes.

Interesting observation!