Steve Ray

I first read this one by @JerusalemJones back in the 90s and it was one of the books that I found helpful in coming to the Church. Others may benefit from it, some may not. 🤷‍♂️

Writing @cworldreport a year ago, @HenricksJayd said this about @CardinalBCupich: Cardinal Cupich is his own man, and he has proven many times that he is willing to go his own way, or the way of a small minority of bishops, and create division. Perhaps he has the smell of the sheep, but his sheep tend to huddle in the far-left corner of the yard. I do not know Cardinal Cupich personally, but I have been around him enough to have a sense of the man. He was my rector at the seminary for first-year theology, and even then, in 1995, he went his own way. I remember one evening he cancelled all classes and pastoral activities for a special convocation, something unprecedented for the seminary. He called us together to announce he had been made a monsignor. I felt bad for him then because I thought about how isolated he must be to believe that any of us cared. He also imposed on the seminary a liturgical sensibility that was out of touch with the seminarians: Mass in the round (actually, it was a square), rubrics ignored, Adoration offered once a month in a far corner of the seminary that had a sense of marginalization, and open conflict with admired faculty members, among other things. None of us at the time imagined he would ever rise in the ranks. Monsignor Cupich would, however, find his way to the top. When I worked at the USCCB, he did not hold any significant leadership positions. He could not get elected due to how unpopular he was (and remains), and yet he frequently muscled his way around with staff. He created a climate of fear, so familiar during the Francis pontificate, that impacted the daily work of lay staff. His move to Chicago was a sign from Pope Francis that the Pope wanted a disrupter among the U.S. bishops. For reasons unknown, Pope Francis did not like the American bishops, and moving Blase Cupich to Chicago and elevating him to the rank of cardinal was an attack on the collegiality forged by the post-Bernandin Conference. Cardinal Cupich seemed to relish the role. He was the voice of the Vatican when the USCCB planned to take decisive action in the wake of the McCarrick affair. Cardinal Cupich delivered the message that the Holy See would take a different approach, and the USCCB must stand down. Unfortunately, the USCCB leadership capitulated, and Cardinal Cupich had another Pope Francis feather in his zucchetto.

Mary is the Ark of the New Covenant! For more typological insights from incredible speakers like @JerusalemJones, join us for the Tapestry of Promise conference this November! Tickets on sale now! Original video from @catholiccom. Used with permission.