The following comes from an August 25 Daily Mail article by Snejana Farberov:
A Roman Catholic cardinal from California was arrested last week on a drunken driving charge while vacationing on Hawaii’s Big Island.
Police say Cardinal William Levada, 79, was seen driving erratically before he was pulled over Thursday night on Hina Lani Street in Kailua-Kona.
Levada, a former archbishop of Portland and San Francisco, was charged with DUI and released after posting $500 bail.
Before his retirement as archbishop in 2012, Levada was the highest ranking American cardinal within the hierarchy of the Catholic Church.
In a statement released in the wake of his arrest, the clergyman said he regretted his ‘error in judgement’ and promised to continue cooperating with police, reported Hawaii Tribune-Herald.
According to Michael Brown, spokesperson for the Archdiocese of San Francisco, Levada was vacationing in Hawaii with some of his priest friends at the time of the incident.
Levada was behind the wheel of a 2015 Nissan Altima and was alone when a police officer saw him swerve while going northbound on Queen Kaahumanu Highway at around midnight Thursday, according to the Hawaii paper.
The 79-year-old cleric is due back in court on the Big Island September 24.
“…vacationing in Hawaii with some of his priest friends at the time of the incident.” It would be telling to know who these “priest friends” are or who else was in the car. Last I read, he was living in a condo in the gay district of Long Beach with another “priest friend”:
https://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/lifestyle/55452249-80/brown-catholic-church-john.html.csp
To David N: If you had taken the time to read the article, you would have known that Cardinal Laveda was “alone in the car.” Why would you be interested in knowing who his priests friends were except to unjustly and viciously accuse the cardinal of Homo sexual misconduct for which there is not a shred of evidence. Many retired clerics, including bishops, share condos with other priests in their retirement years. So, if two or more priest friends share a condo , go out for a meal or have a few drinks like any other normal human being they are raging homosexuals? I find your comments not only inappropriate, but indicate both an unhealthy perception of reality and an inordinate interest in the sexual orientation of others. As a…
Well said!
Your point is well taken. But the larger question remains that if Cardinal Levada (according to the article) was out with Priest friends, –it seems his Priest “friends” don’t ascribe to the policy of “Friends don’t let friends drive drunk.” Also noteworthy is the fact that DUI arrests seem to be commonplace for San Francisco former and current AB’s.
Scandal is a sin!
Careful what you say about another without actual knowledge. It’s called gossip or calumny. And, when any of us do this, we will answer for it. Do not judge lest you be judged…?
Calumny goes hand-in-hand with gossip, yet, while we often think of gossip as a venial sin, the Catechism says (para. 2484) calumny is so serious that it can amount to a mortal sin, if the lie that you tell causes grave damage to the person in question:
The gravity of a lie is measured against the nature of the truth it deforms, the circumstances, the intentions of the one who lies, and the harm suffered by its victims. If a lie in itself only constitutes a venial sin, it becomes mortal when it does grave injury to the virtues of justice and charity.
Let us pray for Cardinal Levada, and all men who are under the addiction of alcohol.
It ruins so many families, and claims so many lives.
Here in San Rafael, our parochail school was “locked down” last week because some drunken man was ranting and raveing against the Catholic Church, and his family thought he might be dangerous: he even made the front page of our local paper!!
Why did his family not take steps to help him before he was arrested and sent to jail?
Why did his friends and loved ones not intervene to make sure he got the help he needed?
For that matter, why was Cardinal Levada allowed to drink and drive while on vacation with other PRIESTS????
Please understand that while family, friends and loved ones do intervene with an alcoholic, we can’t force them to make the correct decisions. They have to take responsibility for their own actions and accept the help available to break their addictions .
Maybe he lives in Long Beach because he likes it there, and maybe he has a retired fellow priest as his roommate for the same reason others have non-priest roommates: to save money, to avoid loneliness, to have a friend nearby in time of need, which can easily come up for people nearing 80, to avoid the opposite choice of living in scandal with a woman, or finding a lay person with whom to live, and/or maybe because he’s too old to move back in with Mom and Dad at this point in his life?? And/or isn’t ready for a retired priests’ nursing home? Do all retired Catholic clergy have to live where and with whom lay Catholics would approve? Are they expected to ask their real estate agents to comb the neighborhood for gay residents before…
This is too shocking, and too sad! Levada is a former archbishop of San Francisco, and was second-in-command to Pope Benedict, as Cardinal-Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith! He also helped Pope Benedict with the production of the new Catechism. His place in the world is very high and holy! So he was alone, driving drunk, around midnight, when he was caught?? Well– when Levada was in San Francisco, he also faced serious moral and legal issues (of irresponsibility), with the clergy pedophile cases!! None of our modern Church leaders, sadly, are prelates that I can look up to, as true religious leaders! What a sad, IRRESPONSIBLE Church!!
“NONE of our modern Church leaders, sadly, are prelates that I can look up to, as true religious leaders”? Seriously? Not ONE?
Oh, my. I’m sure each and every one of them will be crushed to receive a damning (and damnable) verdict from such an enlightened and charitable source!!
Caritas, you take me too seriously! You are too extreme, with your comments! Yes, I lament many of our “fallen” or inferior Church leaders, since Vatican II!! (The ones involved in child sex abuse cases are the worst!) But I do have an all-time favorite, rejected by Pope Francis– Cardinal Burke!! Wish Raymond Cardinal Burke could be our next POPE!! I have been saying that for years!!
Linda Maria …Their were a lot of fallen or inferior Church leaders in the centuries before Vatican II. Oh …. You heard it here first. Cdl. Tagle of Mainla will be the next pope.
“You heard it here first. Cdl. Tagle of Mainla will be the next pope.” Afraid not he would bury the Church into dust with his non-stop yammering about Vatican 2..Praying for a hardline traditionalist that excommunicates every liberal in the Church, every pro-gay, pro-abort false Catholic politician, every active unrepentant homosexual… smaller but Holier is the way to go…
@C&H: Any Cardinal elevated to the Papacy who is not first “gospel centered” will always be ineffective and thus continue the downward spiral Catholicism is on of people leaving the church for Bible-based Evangelical churches or just becoming no longer interested at all.
Caritas, our modern Church has developed a terrible reputation of irresponsibility and corruption– especially since the child sex abuse scandals! Our Church has sadly lost a lot of credibility, and trustworthiness, in the eyes of all! It is so sad! We certainly did not need to see Levada have this incident! He is supposed to be a holy Church prelate, living a life close to God! But no– I still do not think badly of Levada, either! I am just…disappointed and sad, that’s all!
Caritas, in all fairness to victims of the evil clergy sex abuse cases— it is so sad, that nearly all prelates involved in handling these cases, were found to be guilty, guilty, guilty!!! Guilty, in one way or another! Mismanagement, failure to report crimes, lying, covering up crimes, firing priests who made crime reports (as Levada once did), and even Pope St. John Paul II was guilty, with ignoring cases, poor management, and etc.! WHY?? St. Francis of Assisi had a similar problem, in his era, with corrupt clergy! Yet, he still worked for Christ, and made his own place, in the Church, founding his own religious order! This problem is so sad, so depressing, to me!
Neither Pope Benedict nor Cardinal Levada had anything to do with the production of the Catechism.
When he was Archbishop of Portland, Cardinal Levada “was appointed to the Editorial Committee, a group of seven bishops from throughout the world who were given the task of preparing the drafts of the new Catechism of the Catholic Church for the Catechism Commission, chaired by then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.” who took the name Benedict XVI upon election to the papacy after the death of Pope John Paul iI.
Anonymous, thanks for explaining the roles of Levada and Ratzinger, in the production of the new Catechism!
Dave N, that was a big whopper there! Cardinal Levada was responsible for the index of the CCC, along with being part of the editorial board.
Levada sadly made life miserable, for all Catholic priests and laymen, who requested the Tridentine Mass, in the San Francisco Archdiocese, when he was our Archbishop. He was a hard prelate to deal with! No Indults– unlike the Oakland Diocese! As both a bishop and archbishop, for many years, he was known to go to a lot of trouble, to hunt down and destroy a few elderly and sick Tridentine Mass-loving priests, and a few supportive laymen, privately requesting this beloved Mass. MADE ME SICK!! When the sex abuse crisis occurred, I said, “Why didn’t you destroy these evil pedophile priests, instead of Latin Mass-loving, elderly, sick priests??”
As the commercial goes, buzzed driving is drunk driving. Maybe the Cardinal was just a little bit buzzed, but then, he should not have been driving. I guess his angels were watching over him, as no one was killed or injured while he was being imprudent.
Alcoholism is an invitation to the demonic.
Fr. Jeremy Davies is the diocesan exorcist for Westminster [England] since 1986. In his 2008 book Exorcism: Understanding Exorcism in Scripture and Practice, Davies counsels that it is partly through our faculty of reason that God protects us, so any activity that involves an abandonment of self-control can provide an opening to the demonic. Since nature abhors a vacuum, the invitation is extended for something or someone to enter in to fill the void. Any activity that impairs our mind and will is a threat to the integrity of our selfhood. The activity can be engaging the occult, indulging in pornography, death-obsessed music, violent movies, TV and role-playing video games, and abusing…
Yes, they should have had a designated driver. But its so easy to have an ‘extra’ especially when sharing a pitcher or bottle among several people. Instead of a legally safe 0.06 one hits a 0.10. Is this a first offense or one of many?
Why are people assuming His Eminence is an alcoholic? Recall a few years ago that the current Archbishop of San Francisco was in a similar situation. Probably a bit too much wine with dinner. Calm down and pray.
You are so right! Cardinal Levada and Abp. Cordileone are NOT alcoholics! They should, however, as responsible clergy– make it a habit, lifelong, to refrain from alcohol, take care to represent Christ to the people— and maybe only take one polite sip of wine at a social gathering, and refuse the rest! They are called to a holy life, and must set the example, for others! By the way– I think Levada owns a condo, together with retired Abp. Niederauer, a boyhood pal– in the San Pedro or Long Beach area, their hometown. But I think Levada actually lives in Menlo Park.
Drunk on Vatican II koolaid!!! Yes he indeed lives in the gay district of Long Beach California, he NEVER allowed the TLM in his Archdiocese he was a MODERNIST to the core!!!
I was Archbishop Levada’s ceremonial secretary in the 1980s when he was Regional Auxiliary Bishop in Santa Barbara. While he and I didn’t particularly “get along” I am sure that he was no “modernist”. If you disagree with an Ecumenical Council of the Church and want to criticize a Cardinal Archbishop for believing wha the Church teaches you are free to do so.
I have no idea where the “gay district” of Long Beach California is. I didn’t know there was such a thing. On this matter you are much more informed than me. No, don’t bother to tell me where it is. I’m not going to snoop around looking for anything.
While detraction can cause great damage through telling the truth, calumny is, if anything, You can engage in detraction without intending to do damage to the person you are discussing; but calumny is by definition malicious. The point of calumny is, at the very least, to lower the opinion one person has of another person.
Calumny can be even more subtle and insidious. The Catechism of the Catholic Church notes (para. 2477) that a person is guilty of calumny if he, “by remarks contrary to the truth, harms the reputation of others and gives occasion for false judgments concerning them.” The person who engages in calumny does not even have to specify an untruth about another; all he has to do is place doubts about that person in the…
You are correct– Levada has always believed in, and taught, the true teachings of the Church! He also totally supported Vatican II. He helped in the writing of the new Catechism. However– I think many priests and prelates of the Vatican II era, have suffered, due to restrictions in being able to correctly carry out their sacred priestly roles in the Church! This is due to such Vatican II abuses as “freedom of conscience,” “ecumenism,” modernism, false equalization of roles of laity with the clergy, “academic freedom” in Catholic schools and universities, etc. Unlike other professions– I think Levada and others– sadly couldn’t do their jobs correctly!
Is it a sin to live in a “gay neighborhood” whatever that even means?
You don’t know what that means? Go move to the Castro, and report back.
Ralph, good comment! I burst out loud in laughter with that one. :)
Cardinal Levada was the person Pope Benedict XVI chose to replace himself as the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
You only have to look to what this priest did to Cardinal Burke to know what kind of person he is. He made life miserable for so many of the clergy in the Archdiocese of S.F. And if the truth is known, he cannot return to Oregon as he would have to testify on his action in that diocese in protecting pedophile priest.
We must pray for this Cardinal and others like him who have a problem with good judgment. He is a bully and has enjoyed being one for a long time. Maybe now he will take the time to turn around and improve his actions. He does own a condo in Long Beach with AB Neiderauer where they were both born and raised.
They went to the seminary with each other, AB Quinn and Bishop Ziemann.
“Let he who is without sin, cast the first stone” at Cardinal Levada. That leaves me out. And you?
and let us remember these words: Both calumny and detraction unjustly damage a person’s reputation by revealing a fault. The calumniator knows the accusation to be false, whereas the detractor believes it to be true.
Insinuating that this is a V2 Koolaid (whatever that is suppose to mean) fault or that “gay” roommates are involved etc etc…..all fall into very sinful behaviors because of ill assumptions and or insinuations! OneoftheSheep God bless you and I agree, we encourage those posting in such manner to go to confession!
Let he who is without sin cast the first stone at Cardinal Levada. Apparently, we have a lot of saints on this site.
After reading all of these comments from readers I am most concerned about ever having most of these people on my jury. Have you heard of ‘rules of evidence,’ logic, tracing a stream of thought? Even though it sounds like the Cardinal is not on the same side of Church controversies as I am, I have to say, the man is 79 years old. He apparently has no record of any previous malfeasance. Anything other than the ‘drunk driving’ has not been alleged, so why would anyone bring up something that is irrelevant – would that be idle gossip? We are supposed to be Catholic here. Go to confession. This is a man who has served the church for decades, according to his lights. He must have been outstandingly conscientious.
Having served the church for decades doesn’t afford him any excuse for placing other peoples live on the highway at serious risk. Your comment that “anything other than drunk driving has not been alleged” is ridiculous. Isn’t that act by itself enough for you?
Oneofthesheep, I’m not passing judgment on the aforementioned comments. But please note that your quote concerned a common sinner whereas Cardinal Leveda held high office in the Church. And in that office, he brought both scandal and, in part, bankruptcy to the Archdioces of Portland. With Leveda’s DUI, many see a sad pattern of behavior.
Steve Seitz you are correct, you make good points. It is OK to voice our displeasure and discern what comes out of our mouths but some comments here blame V2, some bring up “gay” in the situation and even insinuate things that they do not know personally and that is where people are sinning. God have mercy. Koolaid someone commented…..not words of a devout Catholic but only injuring holy Mother church because the sins of others. God have mercy on these souls who spew their unjust venomous comments without knowing the situation fully or knowing the persons heart!
Abeca,
Your words are always so kind.
The wide variety of opinions on a bishop getting a DUI is because this website attracts a full spectrum from hardened sinners to orthodox Catholics to the far reaches of schism. This place is always a bumpy ride. :)
Thank you Steve Seitz. Your kind too. God bless you for your love of faith and His truth. Praise Be Jesus Christ. P S. I agree with you. Your right. Its good to point it out.
Some of the comments here amount to Calumny. Like Archbishop Cordedelone, the cardinal made a big mistake and is willing to take his lumps for it. Thank God no one was hurt or killed. End of story! There is something very wrong when people have to tie every article to their own fantasies about gay people!
No saints here, just calling out bad prelates there is nothing wrong with calling them out, in regards to the TLM he totally hated it and gave all Catholics in the Bay area grief for asking for it. The time has come where we will no longer be silent when it comes to our love of The TLM.
My nephew attended St. John’s Seminary, and he told me many years ago that the two most conservative and orthodox priests on the faculty were Levada and Niederauer. Well, if they were conservative, which they are not, it would be interesting to know how radical, leftist and Marxist the other ones were. No wonder St. John’s had the reputation of being a lavender pink palace. Ave Maria Purrissima !
Jesucita– I think Levada and Niederauer, as well as many others, believed in and taught the Catholic Faith. However– I think their hands were tied, with the abuses of Vatican II!! They could not function correctly, in their jobs! All they could do– was write, teach, give sermons– and no power, to actually act as true priests, or prelates! They were in false jobs– unlike other professionals! I am very sorry for them all! They certainly were not raised that way, in the pre-Vatican II Church, and did not expect to grow up to be bad priests and prelates, when they were ordained! But Vatican II destroyed what they could give!!
Linda,
If you’ve read the documents from Vatican II, you would know that Levada’s scandal were quite contrary to the Council. Also, although Neideraurer and Levada are both friends of Mahoney, they are two different clerics. I don’t know of any scandal regarding Neideraurer and such things would be contrary to his character.
Steve Seitz– The Council ended up stopping governance of the Church, mostly due to the Council Fathers’ new beliefs in “religious liberty,” “collegial equality,” and “ecumenical fraternity.” Plus, the desire of “aggiornamento,” or keeping up with secular, worldly modernizations. Well– “1960’s style freedoms,” as we all know– are very destructive! As the Church stopped its governance, worldwide, allowing all to do as they pleased– this opened the door to some clergy who were irresponsible (like Cardinal Mahoney, etc.) — to do as they pleased, nearly destroying their own Church!
Steve Seitz– In the 1960’s, also, many Catholics, especially young people– were tragically attracted to the liberal, immoral hippie movement, in the secular world. The Church of Vatican II, was now no longer holding Catholics to any discipline– not even Friday abstinence! Everyone was “free!” Many priests, nuns, and laymen, wanted to keep their Church membership, and also embrace liberal, “hippie” immorality, hoping the Church would change. Rep. Nancy Pelosi and many others, were among these new “Cafeteria Catholics.” Some bishops still tried to
control their Dioceses– but gave up. And the Vatican says, “No control!” Everyone “free!”
Steve Seitz– Yes, I have known for a long time, that Abp. Levada and Abp. Niederauer are boyhood friends– and they are faithful Catholic believers– yet, their hands are tied, on-the-job! As we all know– Cardinal Mahoney is a “Cafeteria Catholic,” to put it mildly! Very destructive to Christ’s holy Church! These three boyhood friends all grew up in the Long Beach, San Pedro area, of Southern California. As for scandals– as we all know, people choose to sin, no one is usually forcing you! However– sin and scandals, throughout the Church’s long history– are sad and depressing!
@Linda Marie: Why, —are their hands tied? If you examine Paul’s letters to Timothy regarding church structure and order, their hands should not be tied. If their hands are tied then it points to a larger problem the church has developed into.
Steve Seitz– Perhaps I failed to distinguish between Vatican II concepts of “freedom,” and those who choose to sin! Of course, the Council Fathers did NOT believe in SIN! That is HORRIBLE! They only believed in “freedom!” Some take advantage of the idea of “freedom,” to decide they will accept sin, or also (as in the case of gay “marriage”) —even to BELIEVE in sin! Sadly throughout the Church’s long history– we see many sinners, in high and holy positions!
To Living Water– Why are their hands tied? Because of the “freedom” decided on by the prelates, of Vatican II! They decided to no longer have Church governance. The prelates all will say, if you ask them personally– this is because it is “much more loving,” for all to be “free,” no more governance, no more rules, no more mean ol’ Church! The Bible, the Catechism, the Code of Canon Law– are SO MEAN!! Ha, ha! The Church is all there, “in the books,” but all are now “free!” The prelates that do believe in Church governance– are forbidden to do so, by Rome, because of decisions made at Vatican II!!
Jesusita,
Actually, St. John’s Seminary was quite mild compared to the many seminaries that were profiled in Michael Roses’s book, “Goodbye, Good Men.”
It’s is sad that Cardinal Levada made a mistake in judgment and drove while his was allegedly impaired. He is 79 years old with a fine reputation. He should not have been driving and having even one more drink at his age. it’s good that he was stopped, and he certainly cooperated with the cops. Too bad it has generated such publicity. As to his living arrangement. the Cardinal is a native of Long Beach, CA. No surprise that he lives there in retirement, as he has friends there and likely family. His high school, St. Anthony in Long Beach, might be described as being in the so-called “gay” area if your mind works that dismissive way.
‘
I attended St. John’s Seminary from 1874 until my Ordination to the Priesthood in 1981. I learned one thing that applies to this thread, that gossip is sinful and when a group of people gossip it’s no less sinful. Like I said in a previous post, I didn’t get along well with Cardinal Archbishop Levada and that’s OK. I don’t defend people who drive while under the influence. What I see here is a lot of gossip about a lot of people who have nothing to do with this incident, all based on “Well, I heard…”
Gossip is the last resort of folks who really don’t know what they are talking about.
Sorry, I meant 1974, not 1874. I’m old, but not THAT old. heh heh
Father I agree. Many comments here are very scandelous and culumnity. Its shameful and no one should have any part in it. I appreciate the ones that admonished the gossip and slander, for that is noble and just.
Ha. I didn’t notice that until you pointed the date, Father. Also, I really appreciate your comment. When I read this article it just made me sad and the last thing I intended to do was make a comment. I just wanted to support your view that we shouldn’t attack a man when he’s down, for one thing…what kind of Christians are we? Also, there are often extenuating circumstances that caused someone to fail like this. It doesn’t mean he’s an alcoholic or a homosexual etc. So much meaness and so little love here. Haven’t any of you done something like this? When my mom was dying of cancer I had some wine at home to relax when I was called to come right away. I was speeding, probably over the alcohol limit and thank God nothing…
…happened that night. I can imagine the gossip had I been picked up for driving under the influence. Whatever kind of bishop or Cd this man was is irrevelant to this article. Anyway. I hope no one here is ever caught doing something of which he or she would be ashamed of doing. As far as I know, not one of us is a saint here.
AMEN, Father. Thank you for speaking up. On this blog, there’s enough sanctimony and “saving” the Church from the “heresies” of the hierarchy to nauseate the strongest stomach.
It’s sad that be they conservative or liberal, high-ranking, or low-ranking, everyone, to a man, refuses to heed the New Testament directives for how to structure the church: from the top, down, handling issues such as this one.
God does not reward disobedience, and we are all facing the music, for being apathetic of what has been happening (for as long as we lay people have been literate, and with access to our own Bibles to read).
So will Pope Francis teach and preach the entirety of the New Testament? No. He’s too busy with promoting man-made climate change, and listening to the German bishops, men whose own publishing company distributed porn (that they called “erotica”). Like that honors God. Time for us pew people to…
I love the Latin Mass too. However, classifying people as good who love the Latin Mass as good and those who don’t know, understand, love it or want it to be offered as bad is absurdly ridiculous. Instead of feeling compassion and gratitude for someone who served the Catholic Church for the majority of his adult lives, I see some of us here as falling into being harshly judgmental. My friends, we have been taught to follow Jesus, not to play God. While I do not approve of drunk driving, should a serious blunder in one’s advanced age set one up for criticism of one’s entire character, lifestyle, place of residence, roommate, vocation, and former places of employment? Can we please leave St. John’s Seminary out of this?
Advanced age or not, serious blunders DO set one up for criticism and in this case it will once again be the innocent bride of Christ that is ultimately attacked. Like it or not, living arrangements HAVE caused scandals especially after the publicly known John Jay study. Like it or not, St. John’s Seminary will be a topic of criticism as long as California remains dominated by those whose vocations were severely distorted through years of poor seminary formation. The Catholic Church has always taught to avoid anything that can give even the slightest appearance of a scandal.
“Be you therefore perfect, as also your heavenly Father is perfect. “
Maryanne Leonard, I agree with you, that the love of the old Latin Mass, has nothing at all to do, with one’s character! How many criminals are there, who loved the old Latin Mass, and even served as altar boys?? However– it is very sad– that after Vatican II, this beautiful Mass was a political weapon, and falsely suppressed! Why should prelates spend their time, hunting down and destroying poor, elderly, sick, Latin Mass-loving priests?? (Yes, this Mass was forbidden– but how sad!!) Instead, they should have spent their time– HUNTING DOWN PEDOPHILE PRIESTS, AND HAULING THEM OFF TO JAIL!!
One more thing must be noted about Cdl. Levada’s tenure in San Francisco: despite many requests, he NEVER took any action to correct the extreme pro-abortion legislative stance of one his flock, self-proclaimed “ardent practicing Catholic” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. He preferred to take a more pastoral approach, he said, implying that he would speak with her privately. His lack of success with this approach, and his refusal to challenge her publicly when that failed, was scandalous, and clear for all to see. Nor am I casting a “first stone” on this or the other matters laid to his charge here. Jesus stopped the crowd from killing the adulterous woman; yet he himself named her sin, to her face, and commanded her to stop.
In defense of the Cardinal, he wasn’t found with an altar boy.
Like Our Lord said: “You will know them by their fruits” Popes, Cardinals, Bishops, and Priests are humans, they can make mistakes. No one is guilty until proven so; however even if 10% of the gossip is correct, that is 10% to much. Does that 10% then represent a true image of our Lord? No not hardly. The Lord knows exactly what the Cardinal has done to offend Him over his entire life, and because he is a Cardinal, the Cardinal is held to a higher standard. Justice will be served in the end, for all of us. Many today don’t think we commit sins. Sin isn’t talked about from the pulpit in pastors fears of losing sinful parishoners? We do commit sins, and you will see for yourself if you find an old Examination of Conscience Card…
Tom –you are correct that sin isn’t even on the radar in homilies any longer. They are afraid someone might be offended by unhappy comments other than Jesus “loves you.” Some Pastors are afraid that talk of sin will negatively impact the Sunday collection. The even wider problem is the rejection of Reformation theology that the basic problem of man is that we have sin nature. We are predisposed to sin. It’s all there in Romans which is never covered in homilies. Paul understood this. Sin is why we need a Savior. He is Christ the Lord.
Has the Cardinal lost his bearing with God ?. In the Bible , its stated that our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. One’s position in the church heirachy is no indication of one’s faith and walk with God daily.
Ski Ven….on August 26th. No Cardinal Levada was not found with an altar boy…but he did defend priests who were found with altar boys. This action cost two dioceses millions of dollars in law suits. No we are not without sin but neither is Cardinal Levada.
If a Catholic Priest or Bishop gets caught in a scandal that does not involve an altar boy, I count that as progress.
Big deal!
All kinds of people get a DUI, but only the famous get pilloried for it.
Mind you, I think NO ONE should drink and drive, but I also don’t think Cardinal Levada should get torn to shreds for doing what most people in this blog probably do at times.
Instead, he needs to learn his lesson (privately), and never drink and driver again.
There may have been some discrimination involved. Sometimes, the police stop a car because of the appearance of the driver, and I stress SOMETIMES. I have been riding in a car driver by a priest, and a turn signal light did not work, and the police stopped him. Also, another priest was stopped because it looked like he was not wearing the seat belt ( wearing black clericals, and a black seat belt blend in very well). So, maybe the police had it in for Cardinal Levada and Archbishop Cordileone.
Sure, Herman. Some Highway Patrol officer in Hawaii had it “in” for Levada and some Cop in San Diego had it “in” for Cordileone. AB Cordileone was caught during a random stop set up when the police have check points on the side of the road. Check points are when they pull over 4 or 5 cars at one time for a check. Stop making excuses for people who are DUI.
Maybe we should get real here. You, your spouse and another couple go out to a nice restaurant. You have a drink before dinner and you split a bottle of nice wine with dinner. As soon as you are through eating, you leave to go home. It is pretty likely that all of you are over the legal limit for alcohol, yet you drive anyway. That is when you call Uber!