If I`m not mistaken, Cardinal Bernardin is bishop of only one of the many dioceses in the United States. How, then, does he presume to speak for all 52 million Catholics here when he claims that the disciplining of Charles Curran and Archbishop Hunthausen has ”adversely affected morale”?
He grossly exaggerates the extent of the tension and division. The only ones who are seething are those who, like the cardinal, have a vision of the American Catholic Church that does not include the Pope. It is they who need to ”cool off” and remain calm!
If anything, the spectacle of ”one of the most influential leaders of the U.S. hierarchy” telling the Holy Father he`d better come across with more details before the cardinal and his followers will give the intervention their blessing, sets a poor example.
