SAYING A GOOD WORD FOR AMERICA

Norman Birnbaum writes: For the past seven years, Father Thomas Reese, as editor of the Jesuit weekly America, opened its pages to most of the controversies within the Catholic Church--abortion, condoms, stem-cell research, sexuality and church governance. The former Cardinal Ratzinger, guardian of doctrine in the Vatican, made known his extreme displeasure with the magazine. Now Father Reese has resigned. Reportedly, Jesuit headquarters in Rome thought that a conciliatory gesture to the new Pope was appropriate, but many American Catholics are appalled. They fear that the former Cardinal, now Pope Benedict XVI, will continue to censor debate in the church. True, the Jesuits know how to serve popes while subtly defying them. Father Reese's successor, associate editor Father Drew Christiansen, pointedly remarked that he would consult Father Reese. Catholics and non-Catholics alike should express their solidarity with America.

GET USED TO IT, TONY

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