Links Purge

1. James Gill takes no prisoners in commentary on the Pope and Archbishop Hughes.

2. Interesting passage from David Hammer's article on the Road Home:

The LRA has begun lobbying Congress for the right to move leftover Road Home money into other projects, rather than having to pay it back to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. LRA board members have expressed interest in using the surplus to help finance Louisiana State University's proposed hospital near downtown New Orleans.

Hmm. Which LRA board member(s) might have floated that ridiculous trial balloon? And why?

3. I've continued to conduct research into the various strategies employed by different state and municipal agencies to get money for Louisiana and New Orleans from the big federal stimulus bill. A few weeks ago I highlighted this article about what lobbyists were doing to get spending approved for their clients to contrast Bobby Jindal's early intention to submit a very bare-bones ask for Louisiana. Following up on that, read this from TPM about an earmark for the "clean" coal lobby.

The stuff I've been hearing and reading about Louisiana strategy has been absolutely fascinating, IMO. I can't wait to distill it down for you. Give it time.

Palmo on New Orleans Church Closures

After the NOPD was called in to break vigils at two uptown parishes, I spoke to Rocco Palmo, founder of Whispers in the Loggia, the world's foremost blog (NPR says) on the politics of the Catholic Church.

(Full disclosure: Rocco and I know each other from high school in Philly. Rocco attended to the deciding game 5 of the Phillies' World Series victory and told me that it was better than meeting the Pope.)

He offered his thoughts on Archbishop Hughes' decision to shut down parishioner vigils at two uptown churches using police force.

His analysis corroborates some of Peter Borre's speculation about the coming end of Hughes' term. Borre, a leader of ongoing vigils in Boston, spoke to Chris Tidmore after the police raid in New Orleans. Oyster writes about that piece in more detail.

Palmo provided the following context on the how transitions are usually handled:

The reason behind this is that Hughes is going to be leaving office in, probably, the next couple weeks... Bishops are required to hand in their resignations when they turn 75. Hughes turned 75 in December, 2007. Normally, it takes anywhere from 12 to 18 months for a new bishop to be named. That appointment comes from the Vatican. Hughes would be consulted on who should come next but the decision is made by the Pope. Until that point, the successor wouldn't know he's a candidate.
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Once a new archbishop had accepted the post - it takes place under a pretty thick veil of secrecy - Hughes would then be called and would be given around two weeks notice until the appointment was made public. So in that time, everything either goes into a holding pattern or if there is anything that needs to be cleared off the table quickly - I'm not saying that has happened but the indication I get is that there has been pretty quick movement on [shutting down the vigils]. Remember that the parish closures were supposed to take place around the New Year but got moved up to November 1st. So that was another warning shot.

After the new archbishop is appointed, it would be a maximum of two months before he actually takes office. Hughes would not have full power in the Archdiocese from the time of the appointment until the time his successor arrives. After the appointment is made, he wouldn't have the authority, or it would be dubious for him to shut down the vigils the way he can now as archbishop.

The etiquette is such that whatever tough decisions have to be made, like closing parishes - you try to clear the desk of as much as possible so your successor doesn't have to make that many tough decision in his first days. The customary practice is that every incoming bishop or archbishop gets a honeymoon when he arrives in his post. Especially in New Orleans that's going to be important because the storm has been so difficult for everybody down there, as you can see from all the tough calls that had to be made by Archbishop Hughes. Usually outgoing bishops, especially when time is running short, tend to play bad cop to give their successors an easier time, so their successors don't have to make the tough call coming in.

Very interesting. Keep an eye out for more big news from the New Orleans Archdiocese in the next few weeks.

Urgent: People needed at Our Lady of Good Counsel

Head over to 1307 Louisiana Avenue.

This is getting more and more outrageous:

At Our Lady of Good Counsel on Louisiana Avenue, novelist Poppy Brite and Hunter Harris Sr. were led out of the church in handcuffs and placed in a police squad car. At least one other arrest is expected at Good Counsel.

"They broke in a door ... a 100-year-old door to get in," said Mary Alice Sirkis. "This is a very poor example of religion. Not only is it not Catholic, it isn't even Christian."

Horrendous.

UPDATE:

WDSU has video.

So does WWL.

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Karen was there to see it all.

Peaceful Church Vigils Broken Up By Cops, Archdiocese

Link

Middle of the night raids.

No negotiations.

Gross.

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I'm not Catholic, will someone parse this out for me?

Amongst the complaints from the Archdiocese:

Hughes and Comiskey also cited other reasons for their change in concern, among them reports that children had spent the night inside the churches and that people were exercising in the buildings.

That apparently referred to some occupiers' walking laps around interiors during their two- and four-hour shifts -- as well as to "reports of people bringing yoga mats, things like that, " Comiskey said.

The archdiocese believes that either is inappropriate. Even though neither church contains the Blessed Sacrament, consecrated bread that Catholics believe is the body and blood of Christ, the churches are still sacred, consecrated spaces, she said.

Seems pretty harsh to me, but others would know better. Anyone care to enlighten?

More:

The author Poppy Z. Brite was one of the arrested parishioners. Check out this diary from just this past Sunday, after officials from the Archdiocese entered the Church in the middle of the night to scout the premises in advance of this morning's bullying.

We gathered at the church yesterday, gave a unified statement to the media, held our rosary service at 11:00 this morning as we do every Sunday, and plan to continue our vigils until Archbishop Hughes can treat us like the committed Catholic parishioners we are instead of fallen criminals who deserve to be raided in the night.

And raided they were. For real this time.