Cardinal Law, American Catholicism, and general bewilderment: Say it ain't so, Vatican! American Catholics, or at least journalists, seem particularly puzzled by the promotion of Cardinal Law and his presiding over important functions in the recent funeral in Rome.

A number of years ago, I attended a function at a local church where an abbot explained to those assembled that they were NOT the church, the priests were the church, and that the priests could get along fine without them, although he did apprciate their attendance, not to mention their financial support. Actually he was using the term, vocation.

The point American Catholics need to remember is that in Rome's view, the sex scandals are seen in the light of how they harm the priesthood, not the effect they have had on the laity. Rome's self-interest is in its own priesthood, and the priesthood is made up of men who were attracted to her as she is or was, not for what she might become.

Certainly there are good men in the priesthood, who seek to do the best that they can for the humble parishioners whose labor and financial support keep the church alive, but it is unlikely that such men have the sort of ambition that will carry them to the highest levels of office within an organization that is in love with the European Middle Ages.

On the up side: "[F]resh knowledge leads to recognition of the theory of evolution as more than just a hypothesis." – Pope John Paul II, 1996 official declaration. Maybe there is hope for married priests and women priests, and even the advocacy of condom use.