Orwell - right again

---by Dave Buhlman

This is a brief story about two guys calling the Archbishop of a large Catholic congregation. One guy is a regular communicant, while the other is better known.

The regular communicant has supported the Church for over thirty years, and is a staunch supporter of all of the positions and teachings of the Catholic Church. He is pro-life and has attended prayer vigils outside of abortuaries, oversees the collections at weekend Masses, is a member of the Knights of Columbus, had three kids who were altar servers, attends Mass an average of five days a week, and confesses his sins about once a month. Also, he prays for those caught up in the sins of engaging in or supporting abortion, and homosexual acts. He is a good, practicing Catholic.

The better known guy is about the exact opposite of the lesser known soul described above. He pretends to be Catholic, but his vocal public positions on the major issues goes against everything the Church teaches. Some lower level Church officials (i.e., priests) refer to this better known as a “Scandal for the Church”.

The lesser known guy is calling the Archbishop to express his displeasure that a number of Church leaders who supported pedophile priests remain members in good standing in the Church. His main example of a Church leader who should get the boot, is Bernard Cardinal Law, formerly the Cardinal/Archbishop for the Archdiocese of Boston.

“Hello, Archbishop McGuire’s office,” said a chirpy voice on the other end of the phone.

“Hello, this is Bob Larson of Rochester,” the lesser known responded, now a little nervous that he was actually in the midst of the call he had considered making for years.

“Oh yes,” responded the secretary, “do you personally know the Archbishop?”

“Uh, no,” Larson said, in a strained voice. “I just want to express my thoughts about something, uh the pedophile priest situation. I think...”

“Oh, you should write a letter,” the secretary interrupted. “Archbishop McGuire is very busy and can’t respond to every call.”

Bob felt the heat rise in his face. “But I’ve been active in the Church for over thirty years. I even considered becoming a priest, and...” he began in response, but was cut off again.

“So have millions of others, Mr., uh.., what did you say your name was?” the secretary sniffed.

“Larson”, came the weak, defeated reply. “I’m disappointed I can’t talk to or see the Archbishop, but I suppose you know best.”

“That’s right, Mr. Larson, we look forward to your letter. Goodbye,” the secretary said, ending the conversation.

“OK. Bye.”, the good communicant responded.

Then the better known guy called and fared much better than Bob did. The conversation for this guy, began with the Archbishop beaming, “Senator Kerry! Great to hear from you. What can I do for you?”

Indeed, even in the Church view, sometimes, “Some animals are more equal than others.”

Dave Buhlman is a former New Hampshire State Representative who hopes Ed O’Reilly gives Senator Kerry a good scare in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senator in Massachusetts in a replay of “The World Turned Upside Down”.