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Newsflash
> An American assumes Benedict’s
previous post in the Vatican
Also see The Thomas Reese
Affair by John Mallon.
An American assumes Benedict’s previous
post in the Vatican
- by John Mallon
Church pundits have been circumspect and guarded regarding
Pope Benedict XVI’s appointment of Archbishop William
Levada to Benedict’s former post as prefect for the
Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith. No one we talked
to wanted to go on record, but speculation all ran along similar
lines.
Levada is certainly academically qualified for the post and
is familiar with the workings of the Congregation, having
worked there from 1976 to 1982 under both Cardinal Franjo
Seper and then-Cardinal Ratzinger.
Some of the speculation goes that Benedict wants to retain
strict oversight of his former office, and his past friendship
with Levada will help him do that.
To some it is puzzling that an American would be chosen for
such an important post, but perhaps that’s the logic
of it. The United States is certainly a trouble spot when
it comes to matters of doctrine. Many Americans, conditioned
by American democracy, have difficulty accepting Church teaching
when they (mistakenly) believe it will impinge on their personal
liberties.
As an American, Levada may be just the man for understanding
and communicating the issues to uncomprehending Americans
and theology professors.
Levada also worked on formulating the US bishops’ response
to the 2002 sex abuse scandal, although some critics consider
Levada’s own performance less than stellar as an ordinary
dealing with the crisis.
For example, Philip Lawler, editor of Catholic World News,
an Internet news agency, said in a May 14 commentary, “At
the American bishops’ June 2002 meeting in Dallas, with
the sex-abuse scandal dominating the agenda, Archbishop Levada
rose to emphasize that negligent diocesan bishops, as well
as pedophile priests, bore responsibility for the crisis.
He observed: ‘We are suffering for the mistakes of bishops
and administrators who did not place the future protection
of children above their desire to protect the reputation and
service of priests who had proven themselves unfaithful to
their duties.’
“How has the archbishop himself handled the sex-abuse
issue?” Lawler then asks. “The Portland archdiocese,
which he led from 1986 to 1996, is now bankrupt because of
payments won in court by abuse victims.
“Several of the devastating lawsuits against the archdiocese
involved priests who were restored to parish work by Archbishop
Levada after having been accused of molesting children, or
protected from criminal prosecution when their misdeed came
to the archbishop’s attention.”
In the same article, Lawler goes on to cite a disturbing
case that occurred in San Francisco, where a priest whistle-blower,
Father John Conley, got into trouble for attempting to draw
attention to the behavior of another priest, Father James
Aylward, for alleged sexual misconduct. Conley allegedly disobeyed
an order from Levada to stop making public accusations against
Aylward. As a result, according to Lawler, Aylward was quietly
moved to another parish and Conley was suspended from priestly
ministry.
Finally, Lawler explains, the archdiocese had to pay Father
Aylward $750,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by a young man
against Aylward.
Then, Conley won a cash settlement in a lawsuit against Levada
for being wrongly stripped of his priestly ministry. As part
of the finding the archdiocese was required to make an official
announcement that “Fr. Conley was right in what he did”
when he told the police about seeing Aylward wrestling with
a teenage boy. Lawler says, “That concession was all
the more noteworthy because, in a deposition, Archbishop Levada
had testified that he would not have reported the incident
to police.”
As archbishop of San Francisco, Levada had to deal closely
with what is already a major issue and promises to become
an even greater one. San Francisco is the North American capital
— if not the world capital — of homosexuality,
and Benedict will certainly need Levada’s insights on
this as a pastor who had to deal directly with the issue both
pastorally and politically.
A noted theologian, who did not wish to be identified, told
Inside the Vatican he felt Levada “made the best of
a bad situation” when Levada found a creative compromise
when city lawmakers enacted a law requiring all organizations
that did business with the City of San Francisco to provide
spousal benefits to “domestic partners” of those
they employed. This put the local Catholic Charities office
in danger of losing government funding if they did not accept
a policy that treated same-sex relationships the same as married
couples.
The theologian paraphrased Levada’s decision this way:
“We do not approve of same sex unions but the state
has, in a most disordered manner, allowed them. As many people
should have access to health care as possible. The children
who have been allowed to be raised in these disordered situations
should not be deprived of health care benefits through no
fault of their own.”
He also told Inside the Vatican, “Levada is very academic
and scholarly ... Also, [Levada and Ratzinger] actually worked
together for a while. I have never known Levada to hold anything
even suggesting an unorthodox position. How he dealt administratively
with those who did is another matter.”
One Jesuit wag suggested that one reason Levada was being
moved to Rome was so that Benedict might appoint Jesuit Father
Joseph Fessio as archbishop of San Francisco. To say the least,
that would be a fascinating development. Fessio has a reputation
as a doctrinal hard-liner, but the lesser known side of him
is that of being a thoughtful pastor in difficult situations.
When contacted for a comment, Fessio said speculations that
he might be named bishop of San Francisco are “hallucinations.”
Certainly anyone appointed as archbishop of San Francisco
may require a martyr spirit if he is to preach Christ without
compromise. In addition to homosexuality, the city is rife
with the most radical ideologies and widespread occultism.
Currently serving as provost for Ave Maria University in
Florida, Fessio’s home province is San Francisco. Until
his recent post he had been stationed there for more than
20 years.
Jesuits, by rule, are required not to seek and even to refuse
appointments to high ecclesial office, accepting only under
holy obedience.
Fessio has stated privately he has no interest in such appointments,
that he can do more good where he is. But Fessio was a prize
student of then-Professor Doctor Ratzinger who directed Fessio’s
doctoral dissertation.
Two of Fessio’s closest friends and classmates under
Ratzinger are now cardinal archbishops of major dioceses,
the Primate of Canada, Marc Ouellet, P.S.S., and Christoph
Schönborn, O.P., of Vienna.
In fact, Fessio might be uniquely gifted to be archbishop
of San Francisco.
----
John Mallon is former editor of Oklahoma City’s diocesan
weekly, the Sooner Catholic.
Also see The Thomas Reese
Affair by John Mallon.
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Inside The Vatican (ISSN 1068-8579) is published monthly except July
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