Editorial: Bishop a good fit for Chicago

Chicago Sun-Times
September 20, 2014

http://www.suntimes.com/opinions/30004588-474/bishop-cupich-a-good-fit-for-chicago.html#.VB3t3fldWSo

Newly appointed Archbishop of Chicago, Archbishop Blase Cupich speaks to the media after it was announced that he would replace Cardinal Francis George, retiring leader of the Chicago Catholic Archdiocese during a news conference in Chicago, Saturday, Sept. 20, 2014.

Can you get a good vibe from a press conference?

We believe we did Saturday morning when Bishop Blase Cupich, the next archbishop of Chicago, was introduced to our city and region.

At least three times Bishop Cupich invoked the name and spirit of Pope Francis, saying the pope “cares a lot about people” and wants an archbishop for Chicago who will “serve the needs of people.”

That is exactly right. That is Pope Francis. And that is just what an archbishop should do.

Cupich wasted no time in reaching out to Hispanics, who make up about 44 percent of Catholics in the Chicago Diocese. Three minutes into the press conference, he turned to the TV cameras and spoke at length in Spanish, expressing his commitment to them.

Better yet, Cupich later made a point of urging Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform. “Every day we wait is a day too long,” he said. “We should move on it today.”

That, too, is exactly right. We can think of no more important cause for a Chicago archbishop determined to “serve the needs of the people.” Tens of thousands of people live here in constant fear of deportation, wishing only to freely go to school and work and raise a family.

And even when Cupich touched on one of the most explosive issues in America’s culture wars — abortion — he emphasized the need for greater civility. Protesters have a right “to express themselves” outside abortion clinics, he said, but “in a peaceful way.” What matters, he said, is to “really produce something in the long run.”

Cupich, who will be promoted to archbishop, will be the spiritual shepherd for some 2.2 million Catholics in the Chicago Archdiocese, which encompasses Cook and Lake counties. That’s his official job description. But, as with every archbishop before him, Cupich’s political and cultural influence will stretch far beyond church walls and parish boundaries. The Catholic Church is a bedrock of Chicago, teaching so many of our children in its schools, caring for so many of our sick in its hospitals, clothing so many of our poor.

It will matter to all Chicago, and to the nation, what manner of man Bishop Cupich proves to be.

Cupich is called a “moderate” by Church standards, but what does that mean? It does not mean that he parts with Catholic teaching on this issue or that, frustrating as that may be for many Catholics. On the contrary, a bishop’s responsibility is to uphold and defend all Church doctrine. He is a moderate more in his sense of balance and tone — what Church goals and teachings he chooses to emphasize and how.

As Bishop Cupich’s predecessors have shown, Catholic doctrine falls all along the secular political spectrum. The same Church that strongly opposes abortion, embryo-destroying research, in vitro fertilization and gay marriage also opposes capital punishment. Historically, the Catholic Church has championed progressive causes such as a strong welfare state, unionization and immigration reform. And the church globally has been a harsh critic of modern warfare.

Consider the Catholic Church’s powerful influence, in just the last decade or so, on several major social issues here in Illinois:

† When Gov. George Ryan cleared Illinois’ death row in
2003, he said he was guided in part by his religious faith, Catholicism.

† When Gov. Pat Quinn abolished the death penalty in 2011, he said he was influenced by Cardinal Joseph Bernardin’s philosophy of a “consistent ethic of life.”

† When the legalization of same-sex marriage was being debated in Illinois, Cardinal Francis George urgently rallied Catholics against it, greatly slowing advancement of the gay marriage bill that was passed by the state Legislature, finally, late last year.

† And in the national debate over immigration reform, Cardinal George has been a firm and influential proponent, saying late last year, “the soul of our nation is at stake.”

We of course welcome Bishop Cupich to Chicago. Our best wishes and prayers go with him.

More than that, we think it’s safe to say that millions of Chicago-area residents, Catholic or not, look forward to working with him in a spirit of grace and compassion.

Bishop Blase Cupich looks like a good fit for Chicago.