romanità

By Diogenes ( articles ) | Apr 11, 2005

Even his staunchest supporters might have wished Cardinal Law had been sent to Brescia for three days to look for a replacement belt for the vacuum cleaner, instead of taking an embarrassingly conspicuous role in the pre-conclave ceremonies. I can't believe, though, that the victim group SNAP found the best means of giving voice to its misgivings:

In a letter Friday to Cardinal Roger Mahony, archbishop of Los Angeles, California, SNAP asked him to use his influence to stop Law from saying Mass. "From our perspective, Law is exploiting this sad time for his own selfish rehabilitation attempt. Out of sensitivity and respect for those families who continue to suffer because of his cover-ups, and in a spirit of genuine contrition, Law should avoid the public limelight," the letter says.

You know times are seriously bad when you need to ask Roger Mahony to got to bat for you in the matter of archepiscopal cover-ups. In fact, we could equally well imagine a West Coast survivors group petitioning Law to intervene and use his moral authority to stop Mahony from attending the Mass in question. Any way you score it the Church comes out a loser. And it doesn't help that Cardinal McCarrick should be the one to remind us via CBS News that, after all, kids heal quick:

Asked if it was a Vatican signal that Law should be forgiven, McCarrick said, "I think we feel we are all Easter people. ... We look at the light rather than the darkness."

Eminence, you took the words right out of my mouth.