Introducing the Jamiebomber
Well, I haven't posted in a couple weeks, so the cycle is rife. Hopefully you're all having as spectacular a New Year -- and it's still new -- as is going on in Philly.
The fault line of things these days is evidenced by the appointments of two communication professionals in major American sees. First, on the home front, all the congratulations in the world to Donna Farrell, newly-appointed director of communications for the archdiocese of Philadelphia. As a fellow Penn alum, and a long-time admirer of Donna's superlative commitment and myriad talents, I couldn't be more pleased -- and no one could carry out this job as she will, with grace, integrity and brilliance.
And then there's Ray Burke's choice of Jamie Allman -- a former St. Louis investigative reporter and radio host -- to serve as Burke's chief spokesman in the "Rome of the West." When you're Burke, who managed to infuriate so many people at home in La Crosse -- well, except $25 million worth of Guadalupe shrine donors -- that the papers there are already greeting his newly-appointed successor like he's the Messiah, what you need is someone who can finesse the message and downplay the archbishop's polemics. If anything, contrary to this wisdom, Allman's statements already indicate that the nuclear arsenal on Lindell Blvd. is proliferating at a furious pace.
He hasn't yet gotten a paycheck -- salary said to be $125K, and the St. Stanislaus trust is inviolate? -- but since the first of the year, the Jamiebomber's accused the St. Stan's parishioners of "hijacking" the parish (again, his money's gotta come from somewhere), whined that a columnist has a vendetta against him, and is making the collective blood boil down on the Mississippi by frequent use of the term "Roman Catholic" -- more a Protestant slur in that part of the world than a statement of self-identity.
And then, there's "Jamie Allman's Reading List" -- which he should've pulled a long time ago. Scroll down for the "Pictures From Iraq That Are Too Shocking & Graphic for the Mainstream Media," and we have a question of whether the St. Louis archdiocesan spokesman (who once considered a run for Congress as a Republican) sides with the, um, Roman Catholic church on questions of war, peace and human dignity. Cafeteria Catholicism at its finest from the people who love using the term.... Hijacking the church? Pot calling the kettle black, Jamie?
Just when one would hope for more encouraging news... sorry, there isn't any.
Continuing his "Extreme Makeover" of the diocese of Phoenix, Tom Olmsted this week fired the nationally-recognized head of his child and youth protection office because she married her long term partner (who is dying of cancer) in a civil ceremony.
This is akin to putting a probationary program for sex offenders in the same building as the victim assistance office (see Philadelphia, archdiocese of).
Of course dioceses want their employees in "regular" marriages (i.e. witnessed in the ecclesiastical forum), but come on -- further proof that pastoral sensitivity (which even the legendarily rigid Cardinal Ottaviani was said to have in spades) is out the window. Decades and decades of immoral, illegal complicity, including a near-takeover by the D.A.'s office, and just when they're turning the corner, they've come for their rescuer's head?!
What's the next step: the Vasa-esque requirement of everybody signing an oath of fidelity? Is use of contraception a firable offense?
Just like the gay parents who enrolled their kid in a parochial school -- to the weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth of the Roman Catholic Faithful (headquartered in a pizza shop, how Roman Catholic of them) -- the bosses, and the self-anointed "queens of doctrine" who coddle 'em, still have it in their bloodstream to get on the backs of the wrong people.
Even in belief -- especially in belief -- there is something called the greater good. May those of us who remember that, despite the long odds, keep working for it in this New Year and always.
And a heads-up: Monday will see the installation of Wilton Gregory in Atlanta, where he will be welcomed with waving palm branches.... Stay tuned.
-30-
The fault line of things these days is evidenced by the appointments of two communication professionals in major American sees. First, on the home front, all the congratulations in the world to Donna Farrell, newly-appointed director of communications for the archdiocese of Philadelphia. As a fellow Penn alum, and a long-time admirer of Donna's superlative commitment and myriad talents, I couldn't be more pleased -- and no one could carry out this job as she will, with grace, integrity and brilliance.
And then there's Ray Burke's choice of Jamie Allman -- a former St. Louis investigative reporter and radio host -- to serve as Burke's chief spokesman in the "Rome of the West." When you're Burke, who managed to infuriate so many people at home in La Crosse -- well, except $25 million worth of Guadalupe shrine donors -- that the papers there are already greeting his newly-appointed successor like he's the Messiah, what you need is someone who can finesse the message and downplay the archbishop's polemics. If anything, contrary to this wisdom, Allman's statements already indicate that the nuclear arsenal on Lindell Blvd. is proliferating at a furious pace.
He hasn't yet gotten a paycheck -- salary said to be $125K, and the St. Stanislaus trust is inviolate? -- but since the first of the year, the Jamiebomber's accused the St. Stan's parishioners of "hijacking" the parish (again, his money's gotta come from somewhere), whined that a columnist has a vendetta against him, and is making the collective blood boil down on the Mississippi by frequent use of the term "Roman Catholic" -- more a Protestant slur in that part of the world than a statement of self-identity.
And then, there's "Jamie Allman's Reading List" -- which he should've pulled a long time ago. Scroll down for the "Pictures From Iraq That Are Too Shocking & Graphic for the Mainstream Media," and we have a question of whether the St. Louis archdiocesan spokesman (who once considered a run for Congress as a Republican) sides with the, um, Roman Catholic church on questions of war, peace and human dignity. Cafeteria Catholicism at its finest from the people who love using the term.... Hijacking the church? Pot calling the kettle black, Jamie?
Just when one would hope for more encouraging news... sorry, there isn't any.
Continuing his "Extreme Makeover" of the diocese of Phoenix, Tom Olmsted this week fired the nationally-recognized head of his child and youth protection office because she married her long term partner (who is dying of cancer) in a civil ceremony.
This is akin to putting a probationary program for sex offenders in the same building as the victim assistance office (see Philadelphia, archdiocese of).
Of course dioceses want their employees in "regular" marriages (i.e. witnessed in the ecclesiastical forum), but come on -- further proof that pastoral sensitivity (which even the legendarily rigid Cardinal Ottaviani was said to have in spades) is out the window. Decades and decades of immoral, illegal complicity, including a near-takeover by the D.A.'s office, and just when they're turning the corner, they've come for their rescuer's head?!
What's the next step: the Vasa-esque requirement of everybody signing an oath of fidelity? Is use of contraception a firable offense?
Just like the gay parents who enrolled their kid in a parochial school -- to the weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth of the Roman Catholic Faithful (headquartered in a pizza shop, how Roman Catholic of them) -- the bosses, and the self-anointed "queens of doctrine" who coddle 'em, still have it in their bloodstream to get on the backs of the wrong people.
Even in belief -- especially in belief -- there is something called the greater good. May those of us who remember that, despite the long odds, keep working for it in this New Year and always.
And a heads-up: Monday will see the installation of Wilton Gregory in Atlanta, where he will be welcomed with waving palm branches.... Stay tuned.
-30-
posted by Rocco Palmo at 16:20
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