[NYer]

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Mark P. Shea is a senior editor at www.CatholicExchange.com and a columnist for InsideCatholic.com. Visit his blog at www.markshea.blogspot.com.

[NYer]

For those who are unfamiliar with how the Vatican functions, I strongly recommend the following article, written by Fr. Rob Johansen:

Why Doesn't the Pope Do Something about "Bad" Bishops?

[NYer]

Benedict, for all his fury at the Scandal (and it is real fury, not feigned for the cameras) is also constrained by the fact that, at the end of the day, he is bound to his commitment to regard himself as first among equals, not as The Guy Ordained by God to Tell All the Other Bishops to Obey Him or Hit The Road.

Your thoughts?

[Tax-chick]

Very interesting discussion. What I would have liked to see the Pope do (in a dream world ...) is stand up in front of the press and say, in a talking-to-rather-slow-preschoolers tone, “You do understand that all but a few of these cases involved homosexual men and teenage boys, don’t you? Oh, but you think there’s nothing wrong about adult men’s having sex with teenage boys? Well, you’re compost-eating hypocrites, then, aren’t you?”

Just sayin’ ... reason number #7857 why they’ll never make me Pope ...

[HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity]

Article:"Moreover, the crowning paradox of Dreher's position is that, having left the Catholic Church for Eastern Orthodoxy in large part because of the Scandal, he is now in communion with bishops who would take it very ill if the pope were to do what Dreher so much wants him to do. It's one of the most puzzling aspects of Dreher's position and I hope that one of these days he will articulate how he can simultaneously hold an Orthodox ecclesiology and still want Benedict (or any pope) to act like Innocent III. I honestly don't get it."

The deeper question, for anyone who wants to ponder it, is why God does not send better bishops and priests who defend the faith and the Church. We are not able to see the correspondence that has been sent to Rome from priests and laymen complaining about this for the last 30 years. But weak bishops or popes is nothing to lose your faith over. During the Reformation people were killing each other over doctrinal disagreements. There were perverts pretending to be clergymen long before some of these American celebrity converts converted. It's disgusting but you can't spend the rest of your life stuck on this.

[Petronski]

Scene I’d liked to have seen: Mahoney comes up to receive Holy Communion from Benedict at a televised event. Benedict slaps Mahoney’s face, administers a blessing and sends him back to the pew.

[RobbyS]

Moreover, the crowning paradox of Dreher's position is that, having left the Catholic Church for Eastern Orthodoxy in large part because of the Scandal, he is now in communion with bishops who would take it very ill if the pope were to do what Dreher so much wants him to do. It's one of the most puzzling aspects of Dreher's position and I hope that one of these days he will articulate how he can simultaneously hold an Orthodox ecclesiology and still want Benedict (or any pope) to act like Innocent III. I honestly don't get it.

Rod is like the husband who has got a divorce from a women with certain faults decides to marrry a second woman with the same faults. When one falls out of love, it usually has less to do with the other person than oneself. There is nothing more bitter than a person who expects others to grant him all he desires.

[sandhills]

I doubt that Rod Dreher really expects the Pope to call bishops before a tribunal and strip them of their ministry as summarily as is often done with priests. Bishops are a different animal, and most Catholics can accept that fact.

Realistically, I only wanted two words out the Pope on his most recent visit to us. Two words.

“Sit down.”

[Directed to Cardinal George as he attempted to school the Pope on the situation here, or to Sen. Kennedy in the Communion line.]

And guys like Rod Dreher (and me) would have taken a knee.