To paraphrase Emerson: Consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.
If there is one consistency with this newspaper, it’s that every couple of months or so, it will publish readers’ letters that bemoan Father Richard McBrien’s column. (Even the current diocese’s director of Liturgy and Deacon Formation has expressed his dismay with the column.)
Such was the case with the Feb. 2 edition. Two readers seemed to be simply ecstatic that, due to illness, McBrien’s column would be discontinued indefinitely.
Setting aside for the moment the despicable idea that someone would relish the illness of another, let’s consider credentials.
The good father’s curriculum vitae includes, but certainly is not limited to the following:
• A priest for 50 years
• A professor of theology at Notre Dame
• A past professor of theology at Boston College
• A past president of the U.S. Catholic Theological Society
• A holder of a theology doctorate from the Pontifical University (Rome)
• An author of 25 books
Considering the preceding, I’m a bit baffled by the corn and pork-chop bred intellect that somehow finds it necessary to consistently berate Fr. McBrien. These writers are the faithful of a diocese that will forever be counted among those very few U.S. dioceses that declared bankruptcy in the face of its own clergy sexual abuse.
In spite of it all, one thing will remain consistent: the Messenger will continue to publish such letters.
Steve Lynn
Davenport
