a salesman who doesn't like the product

By Diogenes ( articles ) | Aug 19, 2010

You know the only story about the pastor who explained his relationship to the hierarchy by saying, "I'm not in management, I'm in sales?" That's not a very elevated vision of priestly ministry, but it's not entirely inaccurate, either. 

So let's imagine that a man named Larry McNally runs a Chevrolet dealership in Oak Park, Illinois. And let's imagine that he doesn't think Chevrolet management is putting out a good product. So one fine day he distributes a flyer to everyone who comes into the showroom, saying: "I apologize to each one of you for the gas-guzzling and  unreliable cars put out by the white male executives in Detroit."

If that happened, how long do you think Larry McNally would continue running the Chevy franchise? Not long. Executives in the auto industry zealously protect their brand; they wouldn't allow an employee to trash the corporate reputation and denigrate their product. 

For that matter, you might ask why McNally continued to make his money selling Chevys, if he thought they were lemons. You might question his integrity.

But Larry McNally doesn't run a Chevy dealership in Oak Park. He's a Catholic priest, who runs Ascension parish. Here are the actual words of the announcement he put in last week's parish bulletin:

As we celebrate this great feast of Mary, the Mother of God [Feast of the Assumption], I want to take this opportunity to say to all of our wonderful and virtuous women that I am sorry. I apologize to each one of you for the insensitive and harsh words coming from the Vatican male hierarchy of the church.

He's in sales, not management. How effectively does he promote the product?

 

[H/T to Father Z, citing an America magazine blog, citing the local newspaper]