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	O'Malley Offers Solace at St. Blaise By Rick Holland Country Gazette June 9, 2006 http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/connelly/273340_joel09.html If the Vatican were looking for a place to get the flavor of Catholicism in America, a good observation point would have been Monday's baccalaureate Mass for Seattle Prep's Class of 2006. The sanctuary at St. Joseph's was packed, unlike great cathedrals in post-Christian Europe. A prolonged ovation greeted the person that the graduating class picked to give a "Reflection." A popular dean of students, Jim Flies was "reassigned" last winter, prompting a brief walkout and a protest petition signed by 400 students. Flies gave a succinct, eloquent talk. The congregation was stirred again hearing an emotional thank-you letter from a classmate's mother. Mother and son face deportation. The Class of '06 has collected money to pay their legal bills. The grads left an unmistakable impression. Highly motivated and inspired by faith, this is not a crew from which to demand the "3 D's": discipline, docility and dogma. Two ceremonies in June, one in each Washington, prompt a discussion of the recent history of Catholicism in our "unchurched" corner of America. At 10 a.m. today in St. James Cathedral, seven priests will be ordained -- the largest group of new priests seen in the Archdiocese of Seattle in 35 years. On June 22, Donald Wuerl will be installed as archbishop of Washington, D.C., a high-profile position that usually brings a cardinal's red hat. Wuerl was sent to Seattle 20 years ago and assigned by the Vatican to take over "problem areas" such as sexuality and marriage from Archbishop Raymond Hunthausen. The Vatican investigated Hunthausen after a gay-lesbian Catholic group was allowed to celebrate a Mass in St. James Cathedral. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, oversaw the Seattle inquiry. He is now Pope Benedict XVI. The arrival of Wuerl led to revolts of both clergy and laity, described by writer Kenneth Briggs in his book "Holy Siege." The Vatican agreed to a face-saving deal. Hunthausen's authority was restored and Wuerl withdrawn. Hunthausen "appeared to have gained even greater stature in the eyes of his flock as the result of the controversy," Briggs wrote. "Such was his high standing that the charges by Rome were largely sloughed off as nonsense or condemned as persecution. "When Rome had struck its hardest blow by sending Bishop Wuerl to usurp some of the archbishop's authority, it had been a huge outcry from the archdiocese that had led the Vatican to negotiate a settlement." What's happened since to the principals in this drama, and successors, reflects on a flock that will not behave like sheep. # Hunthausen: The archbishop retired in 1991 to his native Montana, but remains a grand old man of Northwest Catholicism. Hunthausen returned twice to Seattle last year, to be honored by the Church Council of Greater Seattle and to mark the anniversary of the Second Vatican Council by preaching on reforms in the church. At home in Helena, the Newman Center at Carroll College bears his name. # Michael Ryan: The chancellor of the Seattle archdiocese, who led the defense of Hunthausen, went on to oversee the restoration and revitalizing of St. James Cathedral. Father Ryan presides over a growing congregation in a church where a secular city goes to pray in times of trauma. Ryan was briefly in the ecclesiastical doghouse last year for acknowledging that Ratzinger was not his first choice for pope. # Archbishop Alex Brunett: With the death of Hunthausen successor Thomas Murphy, Brunett came from Michigan to head the Seattle Archdiocese. Brunett has done heavy lifting. He is the Vatican's man on Catholic-Anglican dialogue at a time of strained relations over consecration of a gay Episcopal bishop. He has dealt with priest pedophilia charges under the scrutiny of a local media deeply suspicious of church motives. Brunett has put it on the line for economic and social justice. St. James hosted a "Service of Reconciliation" at St. James during the bitter 2000-01 Seattle newspaper strike. With Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles, Brunett had been a defender and advocate for immigrants seeking a better life in the United States. # Wuerl: When Wuerl was named to his new job, The Washington Post headlined: "Archbishop Choice Wuerl a Moderate, Too." It referred to retiring Cardinal Theodore McCarrick. Seen as a Vatican enforcer in Seattle, Wuerl has shown a different face in 18 years as bishop in his native Pittsburgh. He took an early, tough line on removing priests accused of sexual abuse from parishes. He flew to Rome at one point to demand a rehearing when a church court ruled that he acted improperly against one priest. The stand ruffled feathers. Under Pope John Paul II, Wuerl was passed over when openings came up in the powerful Boston and Philadelphia archdioceses. Wuerl has been a diplomat at other points. Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Pa., recalled to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette being cornered by his bishop on the House's draconian immigration bill. "Do you really want to put us in jail for helping people?" Wuerl asked. Wuerl has declined to deny the Eucharist to Catholic politicians with pro-choice views. Wounds have healed from the mid-1980s struggle over authority in the Archdiocese of Seattle, and prelates appear wiser. A spirited, involved laity helped make it happen. P-I columnist Joel Connelly can be reached at 206-448-8160 or joelconnelly@seattlepi.com.
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