A new angle on the Levada appointment

By Phil Lawler ( bio - articles - email ) | Oct 31, 2005

Here's an interesting perspective on the appointment of Archbishop William Levada as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Particularly interesting, in fact, because it comes from someone who spoke directly with Pope Benedict about the appointment: Archbishop Levada himself.

In an interview with Vatican Radio, Archbishop Levada suggests that, among other things, the new Pope may have been looking for an American because the office was swamped with sex-abuse cases from the US. (Recall that Pope John Paul II gave the CDF the responsibility for handling disciplinary action on priests accused of molesting children. Then-Cardinal Ratzinger was reportedly stunned by the number of cases presented to his office.) The Pope, says Archbishop Levada, may have wanted a successor who was already familiar with the problems.