UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter
Michael Sean Winters | Dec. 16, 2013 Distinctly Catholic
As few weeks back, I wondered why Cardinal Marc Ouellet had not been confirmed as Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops. Now, we know. This morning, the Holy Father announced a major shake-up of that all-important congregation, confirming Cardinal Ouellet as prefect, but shuffling the membership in profound ways, especially for the Church in the United States.
I confess to being a bit amazed. Nine months ago, Pope Francis knew very little about the Church in the U.S. But, the day of his election, a bishop in Latin America who knew him told me that the word he would use to describe him is “astute.” Indeed. In nine short months, Pope Francis realized that we have a problem in the hierarchy of the U.S. and that the problem had a name. Actually, two names: Cardinals Raymond Burke and Justin Rigali. Both of them have been removed from the Congregation for Bishops. Hallelujah.
Cardinals Burke and Rigali represent different types of problems. Burke is the consummate culture warrior and he has encouraged the appointment of men to prominent sees who, like himself, look out at the world and see nothing but dread, who have bought into a narrative in which all the Church’s problems and challenges are someone else’s fault, and that the Gospel is best preached from a defensive crouch, with finger wagging at any and all who do not see the world as they do. I cannot think of a single churchmen who is less like Pope Francis, and the difference goes far beyond Cardinal Burke’s penchant for the cappa magna. Those of us who were disappointed by the appointments in San Francisco and Portland, Oregon, and Denver and, most recently, Hartford, could discern the influence of Cardinal Burke – and behind him Cardinals Harvey and Law – in those appointments.
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