A double header, a quiet cardinal, and the only way to fly
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Happy Friday friends,
Next week is the USCCB Fall Plenary Assembly.
I am not making any predictions about what kind of session it will be this year because, frankly, I really do think it could go either way.
The bishops are due to convene for the first time under the Leonine pontificate — in which the first American pope has already made it abundantly clear he takes a dim view of publicly fractious exchanges.
At the same time, even though the bishops are all pretty much in lockstep over the major issues, we’ve seen real disputes emerge over what kind of engagement with public authorities is prudent and constructive.
And, not to put too fine a point on it, even if Sen. Dick Durbin ended up declining an honor from the Archdiocese of Chicago for his pro-immigrant work, we’ve seen in recent weeks a senior member of the conference in Cardinal Cupich appear to publicly break ranks with the USCCB’s norms on the honoring of public figures who oppose fundamental moral teachings of the Church.
You can have your own opinion on Cupich’s rationale, and frankly I think reasonable people can disagree on it. But the open dissent from the conference’s collective agreement on a key public issue poses a question which, I think, will have to be addressed, one way or another, or else it throws into question the premise of a whole slate of the conference’s work.
At the same time, this is also a presidential election year for the conference, and it’s a very full slate of candidates. I’m withholding my own predictions until I have had the chance to take some soundings in the room. But I think the first ballot — who makes a decent showing and who wipes out — is actually going to be more interesting than the eventual winners of the P and VP slots.
The highlight of the week in Baltimore is, of course, going to be our annual conference Live Show in our usual haunt of Todd Conner’s around the corner from the meeting in Fell’s Point. We’ll be kicking off Wednesday at around 8.30 and, as always, any and all Pillar readers (in a good way) are welcome.
I’ll be honest with you, I approach all these live shows with my usual mix of crippling anxiety and social agoraphobia, but regardless of that (or “irregardless” as they say in Baltimore) I have come to look forward to them keenly. They are, honestly, a brilliant time, always.
The people who make the effort to come out are the best proof possible of The Pillar having become a real community, our own kind of place defined not by ecclesiastical tribalism or secular partisanship, but just a love of the Church and a for our neighbors — and just as importantly, a willingness to meet them, ourselves, each other, in a spirit of good faith, expecting the best and not being disappointed.
So, if you’re around the Baltimore-DC-Phili-whatever you consider to be a reasonable driving distance area, I hope you’ll come. I promise there will be good company.
And, just as exciting, for our friends in the Midwest, we’re doing a kind of double-header.
That’s right, at the kind invitation of the de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture, we’re going to be at the University of Notre Dame — the greatest university I never attended — next Saturday, Nov. 15th, at Legends of Notre Dame (which I still think of as the Senior and Alumni Bar) for a Live Show to close out their annual Fall Conference, we’ll be kicking off at 10pm.
As a scion of generations of Domers, I am giddy with excitement about this one. So if you’re anywhere within two time zones, be sure not to miss it, because I aim to exorcise a lifetime’s inferiority complex about having not gone there myself in a single night. It’s going to be great.
As always, at both live shows, we’ll be talking about the news, but having more than the usual share of shenanigans and games. And the live show prizes this year are, though I say it myself, worth coming for all on their own.
See you in Baltimore or South Bend, or both.
Here’s the news.
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The News
When the U.S. bishops’ conference elects a new president next week, the most famous of their number will be among the candidates: Bishop Robert Barron, who is both the bishop of a diocese, and head of an international media company, with probably more reach and brand recognition than any other Catholic institution in the U.S.
As JD looked at in an analysis this week, while the bishop’s leadership at Word on Fire presents some opportunities for the USCCB, it also presents some challenges — not least WoF’s status as an outside contractor for the conference.
The conference’s approach to handling the prospective election of an episcopal media star reveals as much about its present as about its future — especially regarding the USCCB’s commitment to transparency.
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You may or may not have heard of the term “microschooling.” I had not until I read a piece this week by Jack Figge on how these modern day versions of one-room schools are catching on.
What microschooling is, formally speaking, is an approach for institutions with fewer than 150 students; it involves teaching students in multi-age classrooms, where teachers focus on teaching to individual students, rather than the class.
That might not sound like something you’d run across very often, or for which there would be much use, but consider that there are 5,852 Catholic schools in the country, 30% of which have 150 students or fewer.
So how does it work (and as Jack found out, it is working)? Read all about it here.
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A former employee of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph has been accused of stealing $155,000 intended for financial assistance at urban Catholic schools – almost 10 times the average annual income of the families he was hired to serve.
Jeremy Lillig, 44, was indicted on one count of wire fraud in a U.S. district court last week. He has pleaded not guilty. His trial is scheduled for March.
Lillig served as the director of stewardship for the diocese, and was also the executive director of the Bright Futures Fund, which provides financial assistance for students to attend three urban Catholic schools in Kansas City.
According to prosecutors, Lillig stole $155,000 from 2017-2021. But he is only facing one charge of wire fraud, for a single $500 gift card he allegedly purchased.
Sounds weird, right? Read the whole story.
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Catholic leaders in Central Europe paid tribute this week to Cardinal Dominik Duka, an outspoken Czech who was jailed under Communism and helped to rebuild the Church after the collapse of the Soviet bloc.
Duka died Tuesday at the age of 82. Such were the times he lived in that at the age of 24 he had to secretly join the Dominican order, which was banned in then-Czechoslovakia, going on to perform his priestly duties in secret, organizing underground theology studies and maintaining ties with Dominicans abroad.
Cardinal Duka was one of the old school. Read all about him here.
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Bishops of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church reportedly avoided controversial topics during a meeting this week with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Avoiding specific recent controversies like the arrest of two nuns, the bishops did, though, talk about minority rights and the role of religious minorities in nation-building.
Despite t
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