I don't understand why you feel that Cardinal Bernadin had a pernicious effect on the Catholic Church. Could you please explain?
I see you've been on FR for 2 years. You don't spend much time on the Religion forum do you? First, and least indisputably, Bernadin was responsible for the seamless garment crapola that people like Kennedy, Kerry, and other pro-death pols use to justify their completely non-Catholic outlook on abortion.
More arguably, he was a homosexual who aided and abetted the lavender mafia in the takeover of the American Church. FYI, his accuser, never really recounted his story. He just claimed he no longer could be sure what was real and what was imagined.
Bernardin, the most prestigious of American bishops, diluted the right-to-life cause by confusing other issues with abortion, issues such as the death penalty, under the rubic of the"seamless garment." He was also involved in giving cover to Democratic /Republican politicians like Cuomo who developed this "personally opposed" mantra, which allowed them to give lip service to Catholic doctrine about abortion while at the same time voting for the most extreme measures to protect the unlimited abortion right. He also was involved in the general protection of the pederasts in the Church which have now destroyed the public reputation of Catholic bishops. The list of charges is long.