Good Riddance, Archbishop Chaput
Archbishop Chaput of Philadelphia appears directed towards prompt retirement once the age limit has been reached.
Honestly, I can’t wait.
There was a time when Chaput resembled a decent Catholic and was, actually, often quoted for saying the right thing. Many bloggers, including yours truly, wrote appreciatively about him.
But Chaput was one of those strange V Ii animals who, with age, start to resemble a chameleon. Very much a Benedictite during Benedict’s reign, he began to amp up the social justice tone soon after Francis became Pope. The first one or two times I had a “what the heck is going on” moment. Later, I understood that this one was merely another product of the V II school of thought, with a finger permanently in the air, and all too ready to follow the wind.
I don’t know what excuses the Archbishop told to himself, but it is clear now that they did not obtain the hoped result. Francis veered so much to the left that no amount of heroic contortionism could suffice for the red hat.
Ouch!
The fact is, that whilst Chaput was one of those contortionism specialists V II so lavishly produces, at heart he was still a Catholic. He would dab in leftist political issues and indulge in the rhetorical talking points of the secular society, but he would not compromise on the basics of his own religion. Therefore, he became one of those “neither flesh nor fowl” Archbishops who manage to please only the press with their easy headlines (most recently, against “gun violence”; as if guns were violent…) even as they enrage good Catholics and are considered mediocre helpers by the bad ones.
No red hat, then, for Archbishop Chaput. Not even as token “conservative” (as far as Francisconservatives go) so that Francis can prove that he cares for (fake) “pluralism” of opinions.
We have no need for bishops who confuse Catholics picking and choosing what they want to defend of the tradition handed down to us. They perpetuate the confusion, are a very poor help for people to keep their faith, and largely give the impression that even those who appear “conservatives” need to bow to the tenets of the new world religion, like those of social justice whining, illegal immigration and gun control.
I for myself prefer that Francis has no token “conservatives” who conserve very little and very badly. Let him show his ugly face to the world in the open. When God wills, this test will pass; but those like Chaput do not do anything to help the recovery of sanity, they merely spread more confusion.
Good riddance, Archbishop Chaput.
It’s so sad the contortionism didn’t work.
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Posted on August 6, 2019, in Bad Shepherds, Catholicism, Conservative Catholicism, Traditional Catholicism. Bookmark the permalink. 13 Comments.
Mundabor's Blog 
“He could have been a contender.” But he was a compromiser.
Yea, and he wasn’t half as cute as Marlon Brando.
Bishops are like senior managers in a corporation. They care mostly about their careers and prospects for promotion. They tailor their behavior to whoever is the current CEO (Pope). They have a team of lawyers, accountants and administrators, and of course, they are responsible for the employees who report to them – the priests. That’s it. The Catholic Faith is a pain in the neck for them. They are too busy with reports, meetings, five year plans, feasibility studies, spreadsheets to pay attention to God. One day when they meet the ultimate CEO – Jesus – he will ask them for a complete and accurate accounting.
Amen.
More than a tad harsh. This bishops’ consistent defence of the truth, particularly his pastoral letters on defending Humane Vitae, his one on the 35th anniversary of it, stands out for me. Never a bishop to go with the toxic flow. You should also note, of late, he has begun to celebrate the Latin Mass, something he was not really known to defend or promote before, and no doubt one of the justifiable reasons some were wary of him. Your dislike of him though is as irrational as Pope Francis, the latter condemning him as that right wing bishop! Damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t I suppose. Play the ball not the man Mundabor.
“Never a bishop to go with the toxic flow”?
You must be kidding.
His last fake Catholic message, on his internet page, was published just a few days ago.
You need to raise your standards.
If for you this is one who was “never a bishop to go with the toxic flow” you really need to raise your standards.
His last intervention, on his own (archdiocese) web page, is full of the same worldly stuff.
If you can’t see the problem, you are part of it.
When he was in Denver, Chaput vigorously defended the Neocatechumenal movement and their three-times married head Rosemary McLeod.
The Neo Cats are a weird movement and not Catholic to begin with. But McLeod added to the scandal by not waiting for each husband to die before taking another. But A. Chaput was furious at someone who would point out her situation. It was not anyone’s business, not even his.
It ‘s okay, of course, if one gets “annulments” in between. I don’t think so, but it works for Chaput who welcomed Rose Sweet into his Philadelphia archdiocese for a family conference.
When someone complained that Sweet was on her fourth marriage, having had three marriages declared null, Chaput wrote the complainer that she was repentant.
No she was not. If she had been, she would have returned to her first husband. If she could have figured out who he was. Good riddance to Chaput but he has too many like-minded chameleons ready to take his place.
He is my archbishop. I had high hopes for him but the more I learned about Tradition the more I realized he was a modernist and an appeaser of the world mixed in with his Catholic sounding speeches.
He 1) allowed the messed up Jesuit Fr. Martin to speak twice in his archdiocese despite the protest. “As long as he communicated Church teaching” was his ridiculous response. Sure Fr. Martin tells the audience what the Church teaches and then roundly attacks it. 2) Had pro abort and pro sodomite secular leaders on the World Meeting of Families council here in Philadelphia. 3) Supported after rape contraception (that magically wasn’t an abortifacient?) calling pregnancy after a rape “doing violence to a woman.” 4) Said something along the lines of the “safe period for couple (doing the demonic NFP) is a ‘blessing’ for them” thus promoting a contraceptive mentality. 5) His speeches at places like Notre Dame where he does he speak some truths but then caters to and kowtows with his speech the Judases in leadership. 6) His promotion of the V2 errors of separation of Church and State, so called “religious freedom” etc. and of course his near silence on the recent pederasty blow up here in the US. But that might be on me…I don’t seek out what he writes but I certainly didn’t hear anything about him championing truth in the headlines anywhere.
He would do some decent things like forbid his clergy to attend same sex demonic ceremonies but then would turn around and allow Fr. Martin and cater to the LGBT “families” for the World Meeting here in Philly.
I don’t know who he is pleasing…but it’s certainly not God. He is all over the place, a mixed bag…which is sad since again, the high hopes:+) It reminds me of the Book of Revelation where Our Lord said He would spit out the lukewarm. Archbishop Chaput was given a choice, a hard one, but a choice…and he folded. Maybe he will show his colors after retirement? I hope he wakes up and joins the good guys before it’s too late. He was trained in San Francisco in the early 70’s which isn’t a hot bed for Tradition…maybe they have something on him from those times? Maybe he’ll admit it in retirement and join Tradition…or maybe he’ll just end up retiring to a beach club in Boca. May Our Lord have mercy on his soul and give him the courage to do the right thing.
God bless~
PS. Ann Barnhardt had a piece on this a few weeks back. She noted that the rumor mill has Fr. Martin replacing him. If so, there will be a huge counter revolution in Philly which is a JPII and BXVI hotbed. Maybe it will wake up the emo lukewarm Catholics here and drive them back home to Tradition:+)
Fence straddlers have their reward. Go big or stay home. I find most people out here in the secular world are worried about job one, their own comfort and income. It was a surprise to find out the church world was the exact same.
You’re right, Mundabor. I went to his Archdiocesan page and read his column on the death penalty, which he concludes is “needless and wrong…. We need to abolish the death penalty now.” So he’s an archbishop who does not follow the teachings of the Church on the death penalty! Column reads like something written by a “social justice warrior,” not a successor of the Apostles.
Exactly my point.
Also, he would, methinks, not have written this when Benedict was Pope, or he would have chosen different tones.
That some people think this is Catholicism is truly shocking.
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