The archbishop doesn’t seem to be showing much leadership. I admit I have been avoiding this issue because it angers me so much, but I have seen no headlines in the local paper indicating that the archbishop has forcefully defended Catholic teaching. Maybe I’ve missed it, but it has been tepid enough that it CAN be missed.
The only defense you can make of the Archbishop’s lack of public speech is that thus far Eastern Christian has done the right thing. This man has left the school and the “independent board” of Eastern Christian has not placed the institution in violation of Catholic doctrine. If it does, then he must act or he will be clearly negligent. This Jesuit Whitney is carefully parsing his words, pushing the envelope and comes close to misleading his parish into heresy. When he does, he too will need to be removed.