Today’s Catholic must-reads: 29/06/11

When Archbishop Dolan was elected president of the USCCB the likes of well-connected American Catholics were elated–he represented a new orthodoxy in the American Church–new leadership in the right direction. On this crucial issue this has not been the case at all, at all. He has not changed his stripes from his place holding and conciliating “style” in Milwaukee which he left worse than he found it–inheriting the diocese from the infamous Weakland. He tolerated untold liturgical abuses, outright rebellion amongst his priests, and did little of doctrinal importance with regard to statements and teaching in Milwaukee. His lackluster, complete passivity on marriage should come as no surprise to anyone who really follows the hierarchy in the US. The jolly old archbishop is all show and no go and the signs have been there for many, many years. As a whole the American bishops conference is shameful on marriage–choosing to make major statements on immigration while absconding from a foundational societal issue of grave importance.