Well, thank God he is. I noticed the letter to Cardinal George is dated March of 2001 and the general absolution problem seems to date back quite a while before that - I cannot fathom why there has been such a delay in implementing the teachings of the Church.
That said, I cannot condome Mr. Brady's language and treatment of Cardinal George. I completely understand his frustration, as I think most of us share it, but Mr. Brady needs to temper his language and approach.
In a way, I am afraid we will start to demand changes on the orthodox side just like the unorthodox side is doing. Whatever transgressions we encounter in the Cardinals, automatically we assume the worst of them - they must be in the "lavender mafia" or someone has compromising pictures of them, or they are practicing homosexuals. Personally, I don't want to get caught up in painting all of them with the same brush - I don't want to be naive, but I don't want to be an automatic accuser, either. We need not get shrill and loud and nasty about things. The first change should be in the child protection area - that needs to be settled right away ("one strike and you are out") and then, once that is settled, we should start to ask for changes from the clergy - Cardinals, Bishops and Priests. It is easy to use the Catachism as back up and sent the relevant passages with a nice but firm letter to the higher ups. Enough paper and they'll have to listen.
I cannot fathom why there has been such a delay in implementing the teachings of the Church.Chicago is still in a big mess. Cardinal George is a holy man and an EXCELLENT Bishop. Give him some time. In the meantime you may learn some details about the "welcome" he received from Chicago priests.
According to the facts presented in this exchange of letters, the Cardinal of Chicago has been sorely lax in his duties for his flock, with potentially tragic consequences.
It's precisely this kind of indifference to Catholic teaching (i.e., that not stopping General Absolution is no big deal and "has begun to be addressed") that has characterized the teaching arm of the Catholic Church in America since Vatican II, with a de-emphasis on the reality of faith and morals, particularly sexual morality, and IMO, has led to the current state of weakened belief in the eucharist, the Sacraments in general, the role of the pope, etc.
I like your priorities and your suggestion that after we assure that children and teens are protected,we use the Catechism to get our nuns,priests,bishops and cardinals back to the Catholic Faith.
Before this clear and present danger when I became a "a zealot for the celibate",so to speak,I actually did copy the pertinent paragraph(s) from the catechism and just wrote a simple "I am having a hard time reconciling what you said in yesterdays class,sermon etc. with the attached".I found it to be very effective.It takes the personal opinion out of the debate and places the perpetrator on the defensive which is not their usual positon and they find it very uncomfortable.What is even more interesting is that every once in a while a "transgressor" has responded with a "thanks,I did not even realize that".
I believe that "all things work for good for those who love God",and that for many this crisis will result in a great leap in the knowledge and understanding of our faith leading to a greater,more active commitment to Jesus Christ.
I think we can do something similar with the text of the Holy Father's statements at the beginning of their meeting in much the same way.
You forgot Deacons.