This is historic news; the last time a pope to resign was Gregory XII in 1415; “old age” has traditionally meant nothing as popes die in office. Notably, Pope Benedict XVI, the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was the right-hand man to Pope John Paul II, who not only succumbed to advanced age, but was for all intents and purposes senile for the last few years of his reign.

Cardinal Roger Mahony, the Roman Catholic Archbishop Emeritus of LA, seems to agree with at least part of what I said yesterday about the actions of current LA Archbishop José H. Gomez. Mahony certainly confirmed that Gomez didn’t suddenly learn of how Mahony handled things in the last few weeks, and that as the two of them collaborated closely on the transition from one to the other, “Not once over these past years did you ever raise any questions about our policies, practices, or procedures in dealing with the problem of clergy sexual misconduct involving minors.”

Reading Mahony’s letter today only reinforces my suspicions that Gomez’s recent actions against Mahony were not driven by any sense of outrage, but rather are aimed at deflecting criticism of the archdiocese onto his predecessor. But insofar as Gomez kept silence until the courts forced disclosure — as Mahony says that Gomez has done — Gomez is as complicit as Mahony, and the actions to restrict Mahony’s public ministry are more window dressing for the public and less the product of disgust at Mahony’s conduct.

I look forward to hearing Archbishop Gomez’s reply.

Roman Catholic Archbishop José H. Gomez shook the Catholic world yesterday by imposing unheard-of sanctions against his predecessor, Cardinal Roger Mahony for Mahony’s actions to shield predatory priests from accountability during his years as the head of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. In most of the coverage, this was rightly hailed as a strong action to advance the cause of justice, and to provided at least a measure of accountability even though criminal liability is probably not possible because the statute of limitations has probably expired. The coverage misses one very negative aspect of Gomez’ actions, however.

The US Conference of Catholic Bishops held their annual November meeting this past week, and coming a week after the elections, it had to have been rough. The bishops lost four out of four state votes on marriage equality, and the prospects for rolling back the Affordable Care Act and advancing their other policy prescriptions dimmed greatly with Obama’s reelection and the failure of the GOP to take control of the Senate. It was not a good week for the bishops, and like all people in politics who came out on the short end of things, a little stock taking was in order. What went wrong, and how can we do better next time?

Their answer: bad messaging. “If only we were better at explaining things . . .” Right. And Todd Akin lost not because he was a man firmly on a mission to return us to the 18th century, but because he was inarticulate.

News flash for the USCCB: It’s not that the voters don’t understand you; it’s that they don’t agree with you.

A variety of links to articles/interviews/speeches on current issues that may be of interest.

A variety of links to articles/interviews/speeches on current issues that may be of interest.

A variety of links to articles/interviews/speeches on current issues that may be of interest.

Patriarchal paternalism is at the heart of leadership, according to the Vatican’s Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith in their assessment of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious.

Sadly, that kind of paternalistic leadership rarely works out well. See the stories pouring out of a Philadelphia courtroom over the last month, or the horrific story from Sister Joan Chittister, OSB from her recent trip to Africa.

I thank God for those who speak out against anyone who imperiously looks at the world and asks “Who are you to question us?” I thank God for the sisters of LCWR, and especially for Sister Joan.

This weekend, two prominent New York columnists used their Sunday columns to send a united message to New York’s Cardinal Timonthy Dolan and the Catholic hierarchy: lay off the nuns unless you want to read a lot of stories about predator priests and the massive coverup scandal involving the Bishops and the Vatican.

Seattle’s Archbishop J. Peter Sartain is a busy guy. He’s involved in getting his flock motivated to put an anti-marriage equality measure called Referendum 74 on the ballot in Washington, even though local priests and congregations are resisting. Now he’s also been tapped to oversee a Vatican-ordered obedience training for the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, who keep talking about things like women’s health issues instead of opposite-sex marriage that the bishops want them to talk about. So much for religious freedom.