New Role Shows Pope’s High Praise for Cardinal Sean O’malley

By O’Ryan Johnson
Boston Herald
January 18, 2014

http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_coverage/2014/01/new_role_shows_pope_s_high_praise_for_cardinal_sean_o_malley

Recent moves inside the Holy See to sideline conservative cardinals have solidified Cardinal Sean O’Malley’s status as a Vatican insider who has the ear of Pope Francis, experts on the Catholic Church say.

“It cements his role as a trusted advisor,” said the Rev. James Bretzke, professor of moral theology at Boston College. “I wouldn’t use the term ‘power broker,’ because I think that’s the wrong nuance. In terms of trying to develop a pastoral vision, as well as a strategic plan, O’Malley is clearly in the inner circle, and the single American cardinal that is in the inner circle.”

Terrance McKiernan, president of BishopAccountability.org, said O’Malley ignores the “culture warrior” rhetoric of past prelates in favor of finding common ground with all believers. That resonates with Francis, who has already benched cardinals who courted controversy in public fights over church doctrine.

“O’Malley is kind of consolidating power within the Francis administration without having any official title,” McKiernan said. “Pope Francis is a shrewd guy. By establishing this side group of cardinals, he side-steps the hierarchy while he’s restructuring it.”

O’Malley is one of eight cardinals and the only North American representative on the pope’s committee to reform the Apostolic Constitution on the Roman Curia. The Rev. James Weiss, a professor of church history at Boston College, said with most of the prestigious leadership appointments inside Vatican City already filled, O’Malley is now Francis’ key ally in America.

“As one of the eight cardinals selected to the committee to reform the church he needs O’Malley to have one foot in the U.S.,” Weiss said. “The pope is calling on him for his experience.”

Francis appointed 19 new bishops this week and has moved against conservative cardinals in favor of appointing moderates, experts said. Bretzke said this is a move towards transparency in the handling of sex assaults as well as in areas of church finance.

“Pope Francis is trying to, in a systematic way, reorganize Vatican culture, to change the way things were done from his immediate predecessors,” he said. “Not in a dramatic, flashy way, but in organized and incremental ways.”

He said in past visits to Rome, O’Malley, a fluent Spanish speaker, spent more time with then-Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio — now Pope Francis — and other Latin American church leaders, than those from the U.S.

Thomas Groome, a professor of theology at Boston College, said Francis will depend on O’Malley’s advice to lead major church reforms.

“He’s a key consultant to the present pope,” Groome said. “One of the reasons why Pope Francis is going to do so well is precisely because he counts on people like Cardinal O’Malley.”