Browsing the blogs today I noticed that Amy Welborn has shut off her comments in the Life is so complex post to give everyone a rest. I just read through the 106 comments and it is a challenging thread. Rod Dreher, a writer I first encountered when he worked for the NY Post, has commented many times about his dismay over the situation involving Fr. Weinberger in Dallas. Some take him to task over his general attitude in regards the institutional Church. I have to say that I respect and admire Rod Dreher (who is the same age as me, according to one of his comments), both for his writing skills and his public conversion to Catholicism. I think he is right to focus on the corruption within the Church and to be angry about it. However, I also agree with Mark Shea who can't figure out why his children need to be concerned with what a Bishop does. I too, have only met a Bishop in passing and would not see the need to teach children about how corrupt or wrong a Bishop is. Fr. Groeschel is also mentioned and perhaps unfortunately, due to his current situation. Fr. Groeschel is another person I admire and respect a great deal. I heard him speak several times since October, 2001 and found that I disagreed with some of what he had to say regarding the media focus on the child molestation within the ranks of the priesthood. I also noticed a change in his talks about it over the course of the past two years-I think he came to realize the true scope of the problem. Fr. Groeschel is a great priest and has worked hard for reform in the Church. Rod Dreher is a great writer who has also worked hard for reform. The two have the same goals and they could actually learn a lot from each other. The whole thread is a tough one because it focuses on the response of Catholics to the corruption of the Catholic Bishops and people within the Church. Although tough to read, stuff like this is very valuable.

Speaking of challenging ideas:

I will be attending the Latin Mass Magazine conference in Montvale New Jersey on Feb. 8th. (Conference info is not on their website-they probably do not need to advertise as the first two conferences were very well attended. Michael Davies will give one of the talks. Anyone in the area would be advised to attend as the first two were excellent. I hope to hear challenging talks by the speakers as I did the first two years. I thought of this conference while reading the Open Book post because Rod Dreher sounds like the traditionalists at times. They too see the corruption in the Church, perhaps more acutely than most Catholics. I also thought of the conference because one talk at the conference fits right in with the Fr. Paul Weinberger situation:

“Obedience: Wielding a Virtue as a Weapon” by “Father X”.