Nothing to see here: UPDATED USCCB President story
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
By Bryan Cones
Comments (10)
Wow. Evidently Archbishop Timothy Dolan has no idea why his peers elected him conference president, at least according to Catholic News Service. It could have been the doughnuts at the coffee break.
This is truly unbelievable. Catholic right-wing bloggers pull off nothing less than a coup, and the bishops claim it was all about the "election process," that is, the assumption that the vice president would become president.
There can be no doubt that the pastoral voices in the conference are now silenced, and the more confrontational figures appointed by Pope John Paul II are in the driver's seat. The election of a conference president may seem like so much "inside baseball," but it is of profound signficance.
UPDATE: CNS updated their story as promised (we sent out a tweet, asking why there was no mention of the campaign—see my earlier blog post—and they said they were asking for more information).
Gone is this line, to put my previous comment about donuts in context: “Archbishop Dolan joked that he had to make a few promises to gain votes, including providing doughnuts for the coffee break.”
Here’s Dolan’s response to the influence of an outside campaign: "That wouldn't be new. There's always some controversy around the elections. It's not like I've been immune from that. I've felt the heat from blog attacks myself. The bishops bristle if they feel there's any undue pressure from the outside."
Laurie Goodstein at the New York Times covers it as a liberal versus conservative issue, while Renee Schafer Horton writes on Tuscon Citizen’s God Blogging that Kicanas isn’t exactly “liberal.” To me the story is convoluted enough to keep a journalist busy for a week, but however it happened, it’s a really big deal.
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My elders' wisdom
By Anonymous (not verified) on Tuesday, November 23, 2010I'm with my 85 year-old mother who says she ignores the bishops; what they say has nothing to do with her.
I also heed the advice of my Irish uncle who told me, "Give priests their due and have as little to do with them as possible."
I will continue to attend mass as my Irish grandfather did, because of my faith and heritage, but I will keep the clergy at arm's length. I will also try not to think about how right-wing they and the Church are becoming. When I do it makes me angry and not want to go to mass. I have made this promise to myself, if I ever hear a priest tell me how to vote during a homily I will rise from my pew and leave. Then I will call the IRS. I feel more and more that I am a Democrat at a Republican fund raiser. The only way I can stay is to eat the food and ignore them.
Dolan Story
By angelwings (not verified) on Thursday, November 18, 2010I guess I am surprised to hear that Archbishop Dolan is surprised. But again, that means that nothing "set in stone" and I think that can be a good thing. We'll just have to see wehre the "coup" takes us, eh?
As far as pastoral versus whatever norms a person thinks should be going on "in the church"...
As a convert, I get irritated by the lack of respect in churchs (talking during mass especially) but equally irritated with the silence beyond all reasonable semblemce crowd, those who pray audibly so fast (like Rosary lightspeed) you just know there's a race going on somewhere. Happy to let them win, but seriously, are they in touch with what they are saying? There are enough judges and juries to condemn us all to Hades for something (not the right clothes, demeaner, we know the person and they are not right with God in OUR view, ad nauseaum). Distractions. I lean more conservative, but then I think about Jesus and what a rebel he was. Condemned by those upright men in their fancy robes (remember them?). Jesus would be equally rebellious in most people's view today, I'm sure. All the statues and pomp and circumstance, yet where is God in some of these houses of worship? As people we are stuck in ritual and tangibles. We need more pastoral priests to take care of the people not building campaigns. If the priests (archbishops and up the proverbial ladder) don't reach out and teach us, shepherd us, show us love and humanity, what difference does all the "stuff" make?
Oh and for the cheesehead, not familiar with it. But one of my favorite priests uses props. The kids and teens love it. He uses them appropriately, is able to convey God's message through his homilies. And that is the best of all, seeing another generation hopefully attached to God through His messenger.
re: Dolan Story
By The Eminem Fan (not verified) on Thursday, November 18, 2010I agree with angelwings for the most part (except maybe the last paragraph about props).
Beautiful churches, vestments, and rituals don't amount to much if our hearts are not in the right place.
Saying the Rosary at "lightning speed", without putting our hearts into it, would seem to be the very type of prayer that Our Lord condemned.
And I will grant you: Some in the crowd who believe in silence in church take it to an extreme. I once entered an SSPX chapel, which was extremely crowded. I whispered in a lady's ear "is it okay if I sit here?" She looked straight ahead and refused to respond even with a nod. When I decided to just sit down, next thing I knew she was making it clear she didn't want me there, as she quickly moved away from me. I laughed to myself when more people came into the pew, and I ended up shoulder to shoulder with her throughout the whole Mass.
So it seems we either have extreme complete silence with no exceptions or common sense applied...or, we have loud, disrespectful roars of noise.
It seems so hard for most human beings to achieve balance! They always seem to go to one extreme or another (that whole pendulum thing!) grrrr
http://www.catholicculture.or
By Const (not verified) on Wednesday, November 17, 2010http://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/otr.cfm?id=5429
Just in case you missed it!
Have a nice day you all,
Const
Thanks!
By Bryan Cones on Thursday, November 18, 2010Another version of "nothing to see here..." I don't get it. Why not celebrate? Spero News and Nat Cat Register pull a major character assassination against Kicanas only loosely based on fact, and Kicanas goes down--giving new defintion to "by any means necessary."
The only thing that surprises me about Kicanas loss is the bishops willingness to throw one of their own to the wolves, and this one didn't deserve it, at least not when compared to other members of the conference, including the outgoing president.
But I think it is a little rich for Dolan or anyone else to claim to be "surprised" by this turn of events...
Bryan, I'm curious why you're
By Brandon Vogt (not verified) on Tuesday, November 16, 2010Bryan,
I'm curious why you're expressing such anger over this. Why do you seem to have such disdain toward Archbishop Dolan?
I'm also curious whether you were a part of the election process. Do you know why the majority of the bishops voted for Dolan? Do you have any reasonable reason to believe there was a 'coup'? Do you doubt that the Holy Spirit worked through this election to guide his Church?
How is Archbishop Dolan not a 'pastoral voice'? Why is 'confrontational' an inherently bad quality, as you make it seem? And can you not be both pastoral and confrontational?
And, "this is truly unbelievable."? Even if you dislike Dolan, do you truly think this is a tragedy of 'unbelievable' proportion?
I honestly don't understand your frustration.
Your brother,
Brandon Vogt
Nothing against Dolan personally
By Bryan Cones on Tuesday, November 16, 2010I'm just surprised he is surprised, given the campaign to prevent Kicanas from being elected. That's the part that's unbelievable--I mean, I don't see any reason not to be honest about it, unless they were trying to protect Kicanas' feelings or wanted to give the impression that they hadn't been influenced.
There is a difference in style between Dolan (and George before him) and Kicanas and other bishops of the Joseph Bernardin school, which I summarize as Catholicism vs. culture and Catholicism with/in culture. It's a way of leaning into things, and I prefer the latter, since I think it is, in the end, more evangelically successful. JPII was of the former school and appointed likeminded bishops--Bernardin's successor, Francis George being an obvious example.
As for anger, I don't see that in post. I am surprised. And this is a coup, one that I would think the bloggers would be pleased about. They got what they wanted, though I'm not sure that the folks at Spero New or the Register ever really got their facts straight or treated Kicanas fairly. Spero called him a "sex abuse enabler" in its headline, which is a leap, since he investigated claims against McCormack way back in 1992, while George (or someone on his staff?) igored them in 2005. That looks like character assassination to me.
Disdain of Archbishop Dolan / Brandon and Bryan
By The Eminem Fan (not verified) on Tuesday, November 16, 2010Brandon feels that Bryan has a "disdain" for Archbishop Dolan.
While I don't have a disdain for *Archbishop Dolan the person* (or any other person), I do have a strong disdain for something which Archbishop Dolan once did.
In 2002, he wore a Green Bay Packers cheesehead hat while giving a homily during a Mass.
Of course, Dolan may have had the best of intentions, and I, myself a huge sinner, don't presume to judge him.
But is it any wonder that the Liturgy is in crisis?
To quote one website: "For a true bishop to engage in such buffoonery would always be considered beneath the dignity of his station as a shepherd of souls, as a successor to the Apostles, but nowhere more so than in the sanctuary while a Mass was being offered."
(Of course, there's nothing wrong with being an NFL fan- I'm one myself)
That being said, I would direct this to Bryan: Is anyone who strongly stands up for something non-pastoral? I'm all for pastoral, and for compassion. But haven't we had enough of the watered-down-caving-in-to-society mush which is known as "pastoral." Don't true shepherds use both the rod *and* the staff?
Green Bay Packers cheesehead
By John Drake (not verified) on Wednesday, November 17, 2010Good grief, you're dragging out that old story?
Take a look here, and relax a little!
re: Green Bay Packers cheesehead
By The Eminem Fan (not verified) on Wednesday, November 17, 2010I'm not dragging out anything. The link you gave actually reinforces my position. I was quoting that site in my comment!
The main point is that, in the presence of supposedly "conservative" bishops and even JPII and BXVI, all sorts of liturgical abuses and "buffoonery" have occurred. The cheesehead thing is just one minor (sacrilegious and not "minor" in itself- but very minor in comparison to the big picture) example of many, many strange and bizarre things.
Another example: It is common practice now, even in many basilicas and cathedrals, for people to talk loudly before Mass starts (what happened to silence in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament?)....and to applaud during the Mass (what happened to respect in churches?) in the presence of bishops. Some bishops basically walk down the aisle in a casual manner and act "chummy." People even loudly and repeatedly applaud in the presence of the Pope... inside churches! It's one thing to do this outside when Mass is not going on...but in God's house? The entertainment mentality has invaded even pontifical Masses.
If many bishops have lost much reverence, common sense, and a Catholic ethos of worship, is it any wonder that in many of our local parishes, the same has occurred but many times worse?
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