There is no excuse for appointing a person who holds such a blatantly un-Catholic position on marriage and homosexuality to any position.
It makes a good story, but as grounds for leaving the Church, which was what the post I was responding to was advocating, it only works if one has a very non-Catholic understanding of infallibility.
The Pope makes tons of appointments. Radcliffe is about one of nearly 70 people appointed to this particular council, and there are loads of councils. Between these sorts of appointments and appointing bishops, the Pope is nominally responsible for thousands of positions—somewhere between six and eight thousand. This appointment is among the bottom tier. If the Pope had appointed him head of CDF, or Papal Theologian (a position traditionally held by a Dominican), I would be a bit more perturbed.
Radcliffe is a former head of the Dominicans. It wouldn’t surprise me if Francis was given his name on a list with this qualification, a bit of a bio, and little else. I may very well know more about Radcliffe in some ways than the Pope. The Pope may or may not have done his homework thoroughly, but very often a former head of the Dominicans would be appointed archbishop of someplace or other—being in a relatively unimportant post in what amounts to a 70 person think-tank could very well be a polite way of keeping him busy in a relatively innocuous post.
“Keep your friends close.
Keep your enemies closer.”