I am writing this blog from Chicago where I am spending the holidays with daughter Lauren (aka ‘Supermom’) and family. The story that has got the good burghers of this windy city shaking their heads concerns the recent comments of the Catholic bishop, Francis Cardinal George. The Fox TV news affiliate was taping an in depth interview for broadcast on Christmas day and a question arose concerning next June’s Gay Pride parade.
As this parade has grown over the years, the organizers have tried to minimize its impact on city traffic, shifting start times and then shifting days from Saturday to Sunday. Another change was planned for next June moving the start time from noon to 10:00 AM. This of course caused some difficulties with a few churches including Our Lady of Mount Carmel, situated on Belmont Avenue, right on the parade route. The pastor quite rightly voiced his opposition.
When asked his opinion George replied: “I go with the pastor. He's telling us that he won't be able to have services on Sunday if that's the case. You don't want the gay liberation movement to morph into something like the Ku Klux Klan, demonstrating in the streets against Catholicism."
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When the Fox host pointed out that George's comparison was "a little strong," the cardinal stood by his statement: "It is, but you take a look at the rhetoric," he continued. "The rhetoric of the Ku Klux Klan, the rhetoric of some of the gay liberation people. Who is the enemy? Who is the enemy? The Catholic Church."
Needless to say the proverbial has been hitting the fan ever since.
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This brouhaha reminded me of a similar kafuffle last summer involving a planned special Mass at St. Cecilia’s church in Boston’s South End, the theme of which was “All Are Welcome”, which was banned by the Boston Archdiocese. I blogged about it at the time.
It makes me shake my head. How can these leaders blunder like this? It’s not that they aren’t smart. They are really quite intelligent and they have had plenty of experience in dealing with the media. It makes me recall a book written by my Jesuit friend Thomas Reese about his years stationed at the Vatican entitled Inside the Vatican: The Politics and Organization of the Catholic Church. One of the prevailing themes was that those who work and live in the Vatican are so insular that they are clueless as to what life is like outside the Vatican walls. This does a lot to explain the public relations blunders that the Church has suffered over the last few decades. This does a lot to explain why the Catholic Church has become increasingly irrelevant.
A Boston blogger recently noted the total lack of impact the Catholic Bishops had over the passage of the Casino legislation. He recalled that in generations past all the lobbyist representing the Bishops needed to do was to stand outside the legislative chambers and give the “Thumbs Up” or “Thumbs Down” to the lawmakers as they filed in to cast their vote. No more. The days of Richard Cardinal Cushing have passed. Say what you will about him. He was never isolated from his people. He was never clueless.
