Pope’s Sex Abuse Commission Alarmed by Chilean Bishop Appt.

I’ve defended Francis from a lot of guff from Chicken Littles in St. Blog’s (and will continue to). On this, however, I think he’s made a bad call. When your flock is staging mass protests to stop an episcopal appointment and there is, at the very least, good reason to think that his history is dubious, it is far better to do a thorough investigation than to plunge ahead. This is a bad call and the guy should be vetted and the serious doubt allayed before he is continues one step further as a bishop.

The process, both ecclesiastical and mental, by a which a pope decides somebody is to be a bishop completely mystifies me. The sorts of common sense questions that would seem to obtain in any such process seem to be entirely absent sometimes. This, in combination with a personality that is obvious that of a good person, is totally baffling to me. You want to sit down with such a person, look them right in the eyes, and ask, “What were you *thinking*?”