THAT'S not what it means to be Catholic!

George Wiegel, on the presumptuous nuttery of the Chicago Tribune in attacking Cardinal Francis George.

I will never understand this license that non-Catholics or (ultraliberal Catholics) feel to lambaste the leadership of the Catholic church for acting like the leadership of the Catholic church. Well, yes I do understand it. These liberals want to have their cake and eat it too, they want to consider themselves (and be considered by others as) good Catholics, and still have their pet issues--which stand in direct contradiction to the teachings of the Catholic church--approved by the clergy. "Obama is coming to Notre Dame," they say, "and you will either speak approvingly of it or shut up. Now serve me communion."

I observed this same sort of presumptuous arrogance when the Cardinals gathered for the selection of a new Pope in 2005. Throngs of liberal Catholics arrived in Rome with signs attempting to steer this selection committee toward the appointment of a more "progressive" Pope. Apparently they had forgotten their own beliefs, which state that God tells the Cardinals who He has chosen. Or maybe they figured that God could use some help. Regardless, it seemed silly that these people were attempting to do something that their own beliefs should have told them was a waste of time and possibly even sinful. Average Joe Catholic does not get to call the shots for God. And if Average Joe Catholic finds the selection process for the Pontiff (or the Church's stance on abortion, embryonic stem cell research, homosexuality, etc) intolerable, maybe it's time for him to change his name to Average Joe Episcopalian, Unitarian, etc.

I was raised Catholic and was so for the first 20 or so years of my life. As a young man, I made the personal decision to leave the Catholic church and convert to a protestant faith because I believed (and still do) that my adopted faith system is a closer embodiment of Biblical Christianity. I could be wrong, I think I'm right. Regardless, I made the decision to leave because I didn't think the Catholic church was the right place for me. I didn't wage a war to change the Catholic church to make it suit me. I had enough respect for the structure of that belief system to say "let's part as friends," and walk away. Whether or not they can remain friends with the Catholic church, those Catholics who find intolerable the rules and positions that their faith maintains have been handed down from God to the Pope need to either get with the program or embrace a new one. And non Catholics need to shut the hell up.

I applaud the Cardinal for calling the invitation for Obama to speak at the 2009 commencement what it is: an embarrassment to the Catholic church. As a non-Catholic, I nonetheless thank God that their are such men of conviction leading the Catholic church, and I pray they continue to make their voices heard.