Posted on 04/13/2007 6:54:57 AM PDT by Frank Sheed
Two years into his reign, Pope Benedict XVI is finally poised to make a major mark on American Catholicism with a string of key bishop appointments and important decisions about the future of U.S. seminaries and bishops' involvement in politics.
Benedict's election on April 19, 2005, shook liberals and comforted conservatives who expected a doctrinal hard-liner. So far, they have found an easier hand - and someone who has not made the United States much of a priority.
When Benedict has gained attention, it has mostly been on the world stage, focusing on the re-Christianization of Europe, Islam and mending relations with Orthodox Christians. He also has stressed universal themes of faith and reason.
``The last two years have been much quieter years as far as the papacy is concerned because you have a very different personality'' than John Paul II, said Monsignor Robert Wister, chairman of the church history department at Seton Hall University's School of Theology.
``Many Americans were surprised - some happily, some disappointed - that he did not turn into the pit bull of dogma. He is taking a very pastoral approach, and I think people resonate very positively with that.''
Yet America's turn may be coming. At the top of the list is a looming generational shift among the nation's bishops, whose decisions at the local level greatly affect Catholics in the pews and can carry national weight. For instance, church leaders recently closed parishes in Boston and New York, while the St. Louis archbishop has clashed with a heavily Polish parish over control of its assets.
Key appointments are expected in New York, Baltimore and Detroit, where cardinals have reached retirement age - 75. And retirements or appointments are likely in at least seven other archdioceses...
(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...
US Catholic Church Ping on expected changes to the Episcopate...
IMO there's little worth commenting on, at least not until we see who he actually appoints. This one line in the article may be prescient, however:
So far, they have found an easier hand - and someone who has not made the United States much of a priority.
When is LA’s abp reaching retirement age?
I think the author is simply repeating words he doesn't understand, like me singing a song in Polish.
And he uses "different than" instead of the correct "different from." I can't stand that.
I believe Huitzilopochtli has five years to go.
I should check the First Things website to see what Fr. Richard has to say. He is usually shy and retiring, but we may get a quote from him!
;-o)
http://www.firstthings.com/onthesquare/?p=700
There is always something interesting brewing over at First Things!
And now, News from the morality front:
Church vandalism continues to spread across Italy
Naples, Apr. 12, 2007 (CWNews.com) - Vandals continue to spray-paint slogans on Italian churches, with the latest graffiti appearing on a church in Naples.
The slogan “Bagnasco, Ratzinger: shame on you!” was spray-painted in red on the church of St. Eligius the Great. The reference was to Archbishop Angelo Bagnasco, the president of the Italian bishops’ conference, and Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news).
Similar slogans have appeared during the past 10 days on the doors and walls of parish churches and other Catholic institutions in Genoa, Bologna, and Turin. The vandalism is a reaction to the Italian hierarchy’s public opposition to a legislative proposal that would give legal recognition to same-sex unions.
** a string of key bishop appointments and important decisions about the future of U.S. seminaries and bishops’ involvement in politics.**
Yes!
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(shouldn't it be "coinean marbh"?)
Actually, that was how I felt about JPII. He is known to have simply shrugged off the US as being out of control and beyond hope. JPII, despite our great hopes for him in 1979, did almost nothing to correct things in the Church here and did nothing about the US bishops until almost the very end, when a new nuncio was appointed. That nuncio started giving us some good bishops. But JPII was very much (too much, IMHO) into collegiality and prior to that did nothing in the face of poor performance or even defiance by bishops.
I think Benedict XVI is letting things proceed because they are actually improving, and he only has the opportunity to make changes as the bishops reach retirement age. So he does have some big challenges coming up, such as replacing Egan. Cardinal O’Connor went to the Vatican twice to plead with JPII not to appoint Egan, but JPII did so anyway. It will be interesting to see who BXVI looks to as his replacement.
That said, I haven’t been very impressed by some of his other picks - Wuerl and Neiderauer, for example. I believe the way it works is that the nuncio submits three names, and the Pope picks from among them. Of course, I don’t know who the other names were in either case! Maybe they were even worse...
The rochester diocese is firmly entrenched in the liberal agenda religion. It will take a while to filter down to me if there is a change in the wind. And our bishop was a very young man when appointed...
************
Agreed, although the author paints a discouraging picture of Pope Benedict. I didn't see a lot in the article that was encouraging, but perhaps it is simply my own bad attitude today.
Had I posted that, I can think of a half-dozen FR Catholics who'd demand to have my head on a platter.
That's 3.8 years.
You’re wrong there. Had you used that tone and limited your remarks to that scope, no one would have criticized you.
I’m happy about this too.
Liberal American bishops need to be replaced, either directly or through attrition. Tough challenges are coming in the form of gay marriage, hospitals being forced to provide Plan B to rape victims, Catholic politicians who openly support abortion and a severe shortage of priests.
We need men who won’t bend to popular demand.
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