Pope Benedict XVI is set to make a major mark on American Catholicism with a string of key bishop appointments and important decisions about the future of U.S. seminaries and bishops' involvement in politics.
There is a looming generational shift among the nation's bishops, whose decisions at the local level greatly affect Catholics in the pews. Key appointments are expected in New York, Baltimore and Detroit, and retirements or appointments are likely in at least seven other archdioceses including right here in Pittsburgh.
So far, Benedict has appointed former Pittsburgh Bishop Donald Wuerl to the prestigious Washington, D.C., archdiocese, and he chose former San Francisco Archbishop William Levada as his successor to head the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican's doctrinal watchdog. Levada is the highest-ranking American ever at the Vatican.
While faithful to Rome, neither man has a hard-line reputation. Wuerl refused to withhold Communion from Catholic legislators who support legal abortion. In 2004, a few vocal Catholic bishops spoke out against Catholic politicians who take stances in conflict with church teaching, particularly on abortion. This next election cycle, it's a Catholic Republican and former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani who clashes with the church on abortion and gay marriage. He also is twice divorced, though one marriage was later annulled.
Another development to watch: the results of a review begun in 2005 by Vatican-appointed investigators of 229 U.S. Catholic seminaries for evidence of a gay culture and faculty dissent from church teaching. .
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