Daily links, Mon., Nov. 14: Olmsted backtracks, Dolan full-steam ahead, and please don't call them "kings"

Leading off with the liturgy: Phoenix Bishop Thomas Olmsted restores communion from the cup to the Phoenix faithful [1], to applause from all quarters, including Rita Ferrone at dotCommonweal [2]. Unfortunately now my December column is only half-accurate [3], with only the Diocese of Madison on the record as withholding the blood of Christ from Christ's body. Just shows what a little people power can do. Speaking of people power, In the UK Guardian Joanna Moorhead predicts a "Catholic spring" [4] in the church in England, with some major shake-ups coming in the sex abuse crisis there.

With the bishop opening their fall meeting in Baltimore today, I'm awarding Rocco Palmo a frowny-face emoticon for titling his post about conference president and NY Archbishop Timothy Dolan's opening address, "The King's Speech." [5] Really? Don't think that's an attitude we want to be encouraging. Michael Sean Winters at NCR reports that Dolan met recently with President Obama [6], suggesting that even as the bishops and administration fight over same-sex marriage and the implementation of the health care law (see David Gibson's story on the argument over religious liberty [7]), they are still on cordial terms. Still, a former USCCB official lays into the bishops for focusing on "internal matters" [8] rather than the poverty and economic disruption currently afflicting our nation. The bishops will likely be more riled up about same-sex marriage, with a Senate committee voting to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act [9].