Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Goodbye Cardinal McCarrick
I do not consider this bad news - McCarrick Retiring as Head of Washington Archdiocese. Other archdioceses are bigger but few offer their head the visibility that being in Washington does. Cardinal McCarrick is of the new breed of US Catholic leadership…which is to say, his leadership was of a temporal nature and seemed more designed to curry favor with a political element that leans left.
The Death Penalty, Immigration and Iraq are issues that Cardinal McCarrick was not at all shy about letting us know where he stood and indirectly putting the moral prestige of his leadership position to bear. His positions all coincidently dovetail nicely with the politically-correct crowd. While he was one of the first US Catholic leaders to advance a “zero-tolerance” policy for priests guilty of sexual abuse, that is indeed damning with faint praise. He first espoused this position in 2002 and only as part of a discussion to achieve consensus on the proper response by US Catholic leaders. I was wary that his instincts on that issue were more attenuated to how any actions by the Church could be seen as anti-gay. Such nuance is more appropriate for a US Senator than a Roman Catholic Cardinal.
Another issue on which he is all about nuance is abortion. While he never wavers from his acceptance of Church teachings that this is an absolute wrong, it is not an issue on which I see him out front leading his flock. His was, however, the voice of reason on the issue of Catholic politicians who promote or vote a pro-abortion ideology receiving Communion. While I agreed with his stance then; believing that publicly denying such a politician Communion should only be done as part of a consistent and articulated policy, it once again was music to the ears of the left side of the aisle. His voice seemed much louder in defending John Kerry’s right to receive Communion than it ever did for unborn children.
Like his West Coast compadre, Cardinal Mahoney (Maryland Conservatarian: Cardinal Mahoney is not the Church), Cardinal McCarrick hasn’t been speaking for me on many issues and his absence will not be regretted.
The Death Penalty, Immigration and Iraq are issues that Cardinal McCarrick was not at all shy about letting us know where he stood and indirectly putting the moral prestige of his leadership position to bear. His positions all coincidently dovetail nicely with the politically-correct crowd. While he was one of the first US Catholic leaders to advance a “zero-tolerance” policy for priests guilty of sexual abuse, that is indeed damning with faint praise. He first espoused this position in 2002 and only as part of a discussion to achieve consensus on the proper response by US Catholic leaders. I was wary that his instincts on that issue were more attenuated to how any actions by the Church could be seen as anti-gay. Such nuance is more appropriate for a US Senator than a Roman Catholic Cardinal.
Another issue on which he is all about nuance is abortion. While he never wavers from his acceptance of Church teachings that this is an absolute wrong, it is not an issue on which I see him out front leading his flock. His was, however, the voice of reason on the issue of Catholic politicians who promote or vote a pro-abortion ideology receiving Communion. While I agreed with his stance then; believing that publicly denying such a politician Communion should only be done as part of a consistent and articulated policy, it once again was music to the ears of the left side of the aisle. His voice seemed much louder in defending John Kerry’s right to receive Communion than it ever did for unborn children.
Like his West Coast compadre, Cardinal Mahoney (Maryland Conservatarian: Cardinal Mahoney is not the Church), Cardinal McCarrick hasn’t been speaking for me on many issues and his absence will not be regretted.
