Both Sides of the Aisle
The Denver Catholic Register, newspaper of the Archdiocese of Denver, led by Archbishop Charles Chaput, published in the July 19th edition a George Weigel column ripping Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, archbishop emeritus of Washington, D.C. (The Register syndicates Weigel’s column to more than sixty U.S. Catholic papers.)
The starting point of the column was an anecdote about Cardinal McCarrick’s favorite John Paul II story – the story of the Pope walking up the center aisle of Newark’s cathedral in October 1995, touching people on both sides. This, Cardinal McCarrick suggested, was how priests and bishops ought to act – sticking to the “middle,” in order to be in touch with everyone. Or, as he told National Public Radio, “the job of a priest always forces you to be in the middle…We’ve got to be in the middle so that we don’t let those on the left or the right get lost.”
Obviously, the idea of reaching out to everybody isn’t a good one to some people.
Cardinal McCarrick responded to the Weigel column with a July 26 letter that was released on dotCommonweal on July 27. It is titled, “Moderation and Civility.”
“I will continue to call for moderation and civility, and to reach out and talk with everyone, regardless of what side of the aisle they are on. That doesn’t mean compromising our faith and our teachings, but it does mean that we treat each other with respect as befits the dignity of our brothers and sisters, avoid name calling and personal attacks, and be careful that what we say is always true in its expression and its implication.
Let us pray for each other that soon it may be said again of us what was said in days of old: “See these Christians, how they love one another!”
Read the whole response here: http://www.commonwealmagazine.org/blog
