[sitetest]

Dear Siobhan,

The Archbishop of Baltimore, who is currently William Cardinal Keeler, is considered the senior bishop in the United States. It is a precedence of honor only, though when the episcopacy of the United States has held Plenary Councils, the pope has always given the presidency of these councils to the Archbishop of Baltimore.

If the pope were to have a primate in the United States, I think the office would be tied to a specific see, and most likely would be Baltimore.


sitetest

[Siobhan]

The situation in the United States (and Canada as well) is so disastrous that extraordinary measures are called for. If Pope John Paul II will not do it, the next Pope may well be willing to do whatever it takes around the globe to address the problems, expose the heretics, and in general clean house. Until the episcopal leadership of the Church clearly and constantly articulates the Gospel of Life as Archbishop Chaput has done repeatedly, we will continue the struggle like a village on the slopes of Mount Etna.

Collegiality - so prized by those who want the freedom to dissent while at the same time yanking the Pope's chain - is of no value without a universal primate i.e., the Vicar of Christ, who interprets absolutely and finally the faith and discipline of the Catholic Church. Collegiality is valuable among the bishops in applying particular efforts flowing faithfully and directly from the Holy Father (whoever he may be).

The Conferences of Catholic Bishops are all novelties that can be swept away as easily as they were recently created as legislative assemblies. The only thing that matters is fidelity, and if the bishops can't be faithful or are simply cads, criminals, infidels, heretics, fools or madmen -- there needs to be a hands-on individual in each nation "to prune the tree Catholick".

A pope could invest such an indiviual with a pallium and whatever powers are necessary for these precarious times. He could give such a person a primatial see. He could give them the title Patriarch of a nation. He could call them Vicar General of a nation. He could call them anything he likes, so long as they have the power and authority to clean house, and the bishops know there is accountability and that departures from the faith will result in their departures from their episcopal offices. (Giving this task to Cardinal Keeler would be such a tragic joke. Perhaps a future Archbishop of Baltimore would be able to do so -- especially if that Archbishop is Chaput or someone like him.)

Archbishop Chaput is just such a person to do the job for the United States. So whether he wears a red hat or an Eastern-style mitre or maybe something new -- a 'Mary blue' hat, those are accoutrements secondary to the power and authority such a person should wield in defense of the Faith.

At the November meeting of the USCCB we will see if they can manage to articulate something coherent that isn't just a highly orchestrated show for the media and the laity. For that meeting I will fast and pray.

I grant you that since God could use Balaam's ass through which to speak, He might have mercy on us and speak through the USCCB. God might also move the Holy Father to do something extraordinary and unexpected -- like put Mother Assumpta Long, OP or Mother Donovan, S.V. in charge of the Church in the USA. Such a Mother Abbess of the nation would shake apart the disgusting good old boy networks and behaviors that have given us these hideous scandals and endless reports of sexual crimes against boys and youths by priests (and bishops and cardinals???). Yes, the more I think of it the more I see Mother Donovan, S.V. as the perfect person to straighten out our "gay mafia" infested Church. And she just may be the most able and articulate spokesman for the Gospel and Culture of Life since Mother Teresa.