Render Unto Chaput -- Sources: Denver's Capuchin = Philadelphia's Revolution (CATHOLIC CAUCUS)

Whispers in the Loggia ^ | 7/19/11 | Rocco Palmo

[markomalley]

He is brash, outspoken and fearless -- energetic, colorful, cultured... indeed, even hard-core....

And if multiple indications from near and far have it right, he stands set to bring the most revolutionary change American Catholicism’s most traditional major outpost has known in at least a century, to begin its rebuilding from the ashes of the darkest hour in its long, storied history.

After months of fevered, omnidirectional speculation over the succession to the 1.1 million-member archdiocese of Philadelphia, numerous reports over recent hours have narrowed their focus to the figure who’s arguably the standout voice of the nation’s Catholic right: 66 year-old Archbishop Charles Chaput, the Capuchin Franciscan and New York Times best-selling author who’s led the 550,000-member Denver church since 1997.

Five months since a second grand-jury report on the Philadelphia chancery’s handling of clergy sex-abuse cases led to the largest suspension of accused priests in the national crisis’ long history, blowing the lid on numerous concerns over the administration of the once-vaunted local church in the process, the La Stampa vaticanista Marco Tossati cited Chaput in a Friday brief as the “probable” pick to take over from Cardinal Justin Rigali, who reached the canonical retirement age of 75 in April 2010. In the time since, however, credible reports have spoken of “all systems go” for the move’s announcement, widely tipped for tomorrow, as local officials braced to receive the Kansas native as their ninth archbishop.

Given Chaput's reputation as a tough, clear, no-nonsense overseer with a knack for shaking things up, that phrasing is no accident. At the same time, though, it is worth noting that for the first time since Edmond Francis Prendergast -- the "Big Man" and native son who governed the Philly church from 1911-18 -- a Philadelphia archbishop will have served as pastor of a parish.

A member of the Potawatomi Prairie Band tribe, the archbishop’s Native American name is Pietasa (“rustling wind”) -- a moniker that led his late mother to call him “Windy.” Accordingly, for an ecclesial model that’s stood as the nation’s oldest, most enduring clone of institution-centric, clericalist Catholicism in the spirit of its roots in 18th-century Ireland, the reported move would represent nothing short of a hurricane.

The son of a small-town funeral director, the high-octane choice -- a veteran of leading two intense Apostolic Visitations -- would ostensibly come armed with a mandate to significantly revamp a two-century-old ecclesial culture that's been engulfed by the damning conclusions of the civil inquest and, just as much, by the eruptive aftermath it's birthed on fronts ranging from the courts, budgets and pews to the all-important presbyterate, whose traditional penchant for docility, widely-known across the Catholic world, has recently undergone a serious shift.....

[markomalley]

I'm not usually the biggest fan of Rocco's writing, but he's got some interesting observations here...of course, as always in his breathless style.

If you want a hoot, though, go see some liberal heads exploding in the comments below John Allen's article in the Fishwrap.

[don-o]

ping

Be sure to read the article from NCR as well.

[Biggirl]

Congrats to the NEW Archbishop of Philiy!

[married21]

I notice Chaput went to St. Francis High School Seminary in Victoria, KS.

Victoria, KS is the heartland of Volga German immigrants, who built many beautiful churches in Kansas and fostered many vocations to the priesthood and religious life. One branch of my family, in Victoria, had something like four or five nuns come from the same large family.

I am surprised, but proud, that this little part of America is proving influential in the Church, even to the point of sending Philadelphia a new bishop.

Here is a little excerpt about St. Francis Seminary, from a website for a Catholic High School in Hays, KS:

---

Saint Francis Seminary

Another thread in TMP-Marian’s history began in 1948 in Victoria, a small community about 10 miles east of Hays. Capuchin Fr. Claude Vogel began St. SFS Faculty 61-62 Francis Seminary, a high school program to prepare students for college seminary work and eventually the Catholic priesthood. Over the next 22 years, St. Francis Seminary provided 632 men at least a part of their high school education and can count dozens of priests and several bishops as alumni. (The photo at left shows the SFS faculty for the 1961-62 school year.)

[Salvation]

Chaput will be good for the City of Brotherly Love.

Think back to the dim convention in Denver and how they all hated Chaput because he spoke out against their platform of abortion.

God bless him!

[Mrs. Don-o]

Just reading how the wackadoos are moaning, kvetching and clutching their heads, makes my heart feel jiggy.

Pray, though. Satan our enemy likes to take down the good ones. He'll be tensing his muscles and sharpening his claws for Chaput.