The Indult Watch Spreads

See, I knew I was onto something. The (now-legendary) Corned Beef Indult is now being covered in the mainstream press.

Religion News Service reports that "Overall, at least 29 of the 195 U.S. dioceses have granted exceptions so far, according to an informal tally by Catholic commentator Rocco Palmo, who has tracked the issue on his blog, Whispers in the Loggia, a widely watched source of all things Catholic."

And a fun piece, replete with puns and double entendres, from Tom Heinen in today's Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:

With a tip o' the miter to cultural tradition, Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan has used his authority under church law to grant a dispensation from the normal requirement that Catholics abstain from all meat on Fridays in Lent. Those who choose to chow down are encouraged by him to make another day during the week a special day of penance.

Dolan, who delights in his ethnic heritage, wasn't expected to stand pat. He's not alone.

From Archbishop Sean Patrick O'Malley in Boston to Cardinal Francis E. George in Chicago, a number of Catholic bishops have granted dispensations. That group includes all of the bishops who head the four other dioceses in Wisconsin, most of whose surnames aren't exactly dripping with dew from the Emerald Isle.

More than 60 bishops in the nation have granted dispensations, according to Rocco Palmo, a U.S. correspondent for The Tablet, an international Catholic weekly.

You've gotta hand it to The Great Tim Dolan -- he's not the kind to tell people they can't eat.... And if there's one man who can drive the snakes outta the American church, it is he.

I have to compile and update everything and will post a Master List on the other side of my nightly nap.

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