John Cardinal Cody was a sad man, a flawed man and a very small man. He was a prince of the Church.
Cody took over the Archdiocese of Chicago and immediately fired pastors who built parishes and schools and served the needs of their flocks. Cody never took the time to learn anything about the City and the people he was supposed to serve. In fact, John Cardinal Cody didn't much care for the people of Chicago. He was Cardinal for a very long time.
Cardinal Cody wanted only good press and powerful financial people to help tighten his grip on the Archdiocese through Project Renewal ( 1965-?) He got both here in Chicago. He had the media until 1981. People with wallets and check books loved him; people with change purses, not so much.
Bishop Cupich reminds me of Cardinal Cody - quite a bit.
One of his first remarks to the press seemed to be open slap at the dying Francis Cardinal George, "Wherever I live, I want to have a place where I can get some rest and feel the support of people who are around me,It is a lovely place, and I really want to honor that," he said. "At the same time, I would have to say I'm going to take my time to make that decision. I'm going to see where I can be most effective."
Cardinal George understood that the Cardinal's Residence was the peoples house in this Archdiocese, but the Chicago Media ( Carol Marin, Michael Sneed, Eric Zorn, Jay Levine et al) harped constantly on a priest living in such luxury. Bishop Cupich is a Media Man. He crafted a narrative parallel to Pope Francis I and will soon be rewarded with a red hat when he is elevated to Cardinal.
Cardinal George had poor kids from Englewood, Canaryville, Bronzeville and Gresham in as his guests on very regular basis. He fed them cake, pop and cookies. He listened to their struggles to avoid the GDs, the Stones and the Irish Deuces. He prayed with them. He called Leo High School to ask about their progress and chew them out when needed.
This weekend, Bishop Cupich saw to it that a young girl who texted a racially offensive thought to her friends in her Twitter circle be expelled - Excommunicated - from Marist High School as a political sop to Pastor Pfleger, Black Lives Matter and Rahm Emmanuel. That made the media happy because damned a whole neighborhood as well.
"Marist High School is a privately operated school in the Archdiocese dedicated to Gospel values," Cupich said. "We support them as they take the necessary steps to deal with this situation swiftly and take appropriate disciplinary action."
His taking a shotgun to kill a gnat approach to race relations this past weekend went one better gave it to people who have done nothing but live their lives.
"Racism is a sin and has no place in the church, including the Archdiocese of Chicago," said Cupich, who recently was chosen by Pope Francis to become a cardinal. "Our schools must be places where all are respected and the values of tolerance and peacemaking are taught and nurtured."
The people of Mount Greenwood , the students at Marist High School and all of Chicago did not
- block a firehouse exit after right lane weaving
- brawl with a firefighter and an off-duty cop
- draw a hand gun and threaten to fire
- Joshua Beal did that and died as a result
Instead, the media want to replay the 1960's and make Mount Greenwood Selma and Ja'mal Green and Pastor Pfleger the Dr. King twins. Bishop Cupich joined in the fun. Cardinal Bernardin never called out a high school kid, even when a few beat a kid with bats. Cardinal George took hurting young men from Chicago's meanest streets and treated them to what a priest is all about and made calls to improve their lives. The media hated Cardinal George.
Bishop Cupich will have a red hat very soon. He is Cardinal Cody.
I was at an Ordination Party for a young priests the day Cardinal Cody died. When his death was announced . . .the prayer was brief and party was back under way.
No comments:
Post a Comment