Cardinal O'Connor's Revenge

Cardinal O'Connor's Revenge | George Neumayr | Web Exclusive for Catholic World Report

The "Seamless Garment" unravels

In the years following Roe v. Wade, the US bishops debated the place of abortion in their agenda. Cardinal John O’Connor of New York argued for giving primacy to the abortion issue, while Cardinal Joseph Bernardin of Chicago wanted abortion integrated into a long and dubious list of “threats to life.” The latter view prevailed in the USCCB, and became known as the “Seamless Garment.” The upset election of New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan to the USCCB presidency over Bishop Gerald Kicanas of Tucson, the media-described Bernardin “protégé,” is a posthumous victory of sorts for O’Connor.

Not that the Bernardin Left is now powerless in the Church in America. It retains plenty of influence in chanceries and Catholic classrooms across the country, not to mention—as evidenced by the close vote between Dolan and Kicanas—the episcopate itself. But the “Seamless Garment” bishops are running out of steam, stopped not only by their overtly political liberalism, which looks painfully passé in the light of the Democratic Party’s crack-up and the nation’s changing mood, but also by the moral fallout of their doctrinal liberalism.

Historians will likely note that what ultimately silenced and discredited the “Seamless Garment” bishops was not this or that silly political stance, but the sex abuse scandal. Before it erupted, bishops like Roger Mahony could command an audience on topics like amnesty; after it, their moral authority seemed shot. People were in no mood to be lectured on “justice” from bishops who hadn’t provided any to children in their own dioceses.

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Comments

[Todd Newbold]

I think Bishop Dolan will be great as President OF USCCB.
Gods Speed

[Dan Collins]

The Unseemly Garment

[Thomas S]

It's convenient to omit him from the story, but credit is still due...

Cardinal O'Connor was NOT alone in his opposition to Bernardin. A man named Bernard Law deserves credit, too. In fact, as far back as the '80s, Cardinals Law and O'Connor (good friends that they were) were dubbed "LAW & ORDER" in large part to their united front against the Seamless Garment nonsense.

[Sharon]

Now, now Thomas - you mustn't post anything favourable about Cardinal Law. You know that he has to carry the can for all of the bishops in the USA who moved abusive priests, sometimes following the advice of psychologists instead of Church teaching.

[Patti Fordyce]

Well said, Thomas. It is also a little known fact that we have Cardinal Law to thank for the Catechism of the Catholic Church; he made the speech at the Synod of Bishops that requested its complilation.

On Archbishop Dolan's election: every time I see him interviewed, I think "Can England and Wales please have one of those?"