David Gibson over at Politics Daily has a great post with comments from Illinois Supreme Court Justice Anne Burke on how the pope should respond to sex abuse. In short, trade in white for a simple black cassock, lose the red shoes and ermine-trimmed capes, and mandate a weekly day of fasting and penance for all bishops.
Sounds good to me: Popes did not where white until the Dominican Pope Pius V (1504-1572) was elected and chose to continue to wear his white Dominican habit, a tradition continued by his successors. Pius V, by the way, implemented the reforms of the Council of Trent.
Anyway, now seems to be a good time to retire some of the more outlandish elements of the papal costume for something a bit more demure, as Justice Burke suggests. And if you, like me, just can't get enough of her sage, sane advice, you can read her two most recent contributions to U.S. Catholic: June's "The truth shall set us free" and January 2007's "Nothing but the truth." Sense a pattern?
