Maybe Francis isn’t after a lurch to the left, but a new balance

By John L. Allen Jr.
Crux
September 23, 2014

http://www.cruxnow.com/church/2014/09/23/pope-francis-international-theological-commission-new-balance/?s_campaign=crux:rss?s_campaign=camp:email:ja

Especially on the heels of rumors that Pope Francis is about to demote American Cardinal Raymond Burke to a ceremonial Vatican job, Saturday’s choice of Blase Cupich as the new Archbishop of Chicago cemented impressions in many quarters of a lurch to the left in Catholicism.

On Twitter, one disgruntled reaction termed this one-two punch the beginning of the “soft and fluffy Anglicanization” of the Catholic Church.

Burke is a hero to conservatives and an especially strong voice on pro-life issues, while Cupich is basically what the Europeans would call “center-left,” meaning a moderate whose own sympathies lie a bit more with the liberals. Taken together, these steps seem to paint a clear political picture.

Therein, however, lies the problem.

The impression of a recent turn to the left depends on keeping these two moves in focus – one of which is still unconfirmed, though Francis already took Burke off the Congregation for Bishops last December – and leaving a couple of other important pieces out of the picture.

For instance, there’s last Thursday’s appointment of Anthony Fisher as the new Archbishop of Sydney in Australia. A protégé of Cardinal George Pell, who today is overseeing Francis’ financial reform, Fisher is a Dominican theologian who would almost universally be seen as a conservative.