Philadelphia’s Lovable Lot Of Quirky Catholics Say Good-Bye To Chaput (Rhymes With “Slap You”) And Welcome Perez
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Parez and Chaput
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• Wed, Mar 18, 2020
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A head shot of Bishop Nelson Perez of Cleveland, appointed by Pope Francis to head the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, reveals a charismatic smile and an ‘everybody’s favorite uncle’ look. It’s interesting to note that CatholicCitizen.org stated that the bishop’s former hobby was deep sea diving: "A deep sea diver not afraid to swim with the sharks.”
Nelson Perez may have to learn to swim with sharks now that he’s in what used to be known as the Quaker City, now commonly referred to as the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection, at least until this year when it was renamed The City of Sisterly Love to commemorate the 19th amendment, giving women the right to vote. (The new marketing name will expire in 2021 although Philadelphia City Council will almost certainly devise further configurations).
Philadelphia has become as politically correct as Bill de Blasio’s New York and London Breed’s San Francisco. Philadelphia is also one of the nation’s premier Sanctuary Cities, something of which the city’s 99th mayor, James Kenney, is very proud.
Bishop Perez’s instillation as Archbishop of Philadelphia took place on Tuesday, February 18, 2020. The utilitarian, secular sounding word ‘installation’ is a far cry from the word ‘enthronement,’ which was commonly used prior to the revolution in Church rubrics in the 1960s and ‘70s. Perez replaces Archbishop Charles Chaput, who was Archbishop of Denver before his arrival in Philadelphia in 2011.
Chaput, a New York Times best selling author, is a man of keen theological intellect. A stickler for Church doctrine, he has refused communion for Catholic politicians who support abortion and euthanasia and he roused the anger of the gay and lesbian community after his refusal to compromise on the issue of same sex marriage.
Philadelphia Catholics are a loveable, quirky lot. They take their identity as Catholics seriously while generally going along with whatever the hierarchy advocates in the way of change, at least in liturgical matters. There was little opposition here after the Second Vatican Council when the Mass was reformatted and church architecture turned on its head. The Traditional Latin Mass community in the nation’s sixth largest city should be three times as big as it is but most Catholics here are just fine with the liturgical status quo. Philadelphia Catholics tend to "go along” to such a degree that if a new archbishop said that crosses must be turned upside down on all the altars, many Catholics would go along with the change, thinking the switch was divinely inspired.
Chaput, as Archbishop of Philadelphia, inherited the financial disasters necessitating school and church closures not to mention a clergy abuse crisis so vast that it warranted a Federal investigation. Chaput has also had to deal with the merciless left-progressive-at-all-costs Philadelphia media, which had few good things to say about him since he became archbishop in 2011.
The mainstream media’s message was that Chaput’s directness was polarizing. Now that Perez has been appointed to replace Chaput, the media guns are out in force: You, Chaput, did not have to be so adamant about Church doctrine. You should have referred to Church doctrine in a softer, more ambiguous way so that it didn’t sound so harsh. And mean.
A charismatic smile mixed with winks and nods will not change the black and white directness of the Catholic Catechism but it goes a long way when it comes to approval ratings.
Chaput has been demonized not only by The Philadelphia Inquirer but by a large number of the city’s weeklies, beginning with The Philadelphia Gay News, and The Philadelphia Weekly, where the editor there ran a column entitled, Chaput Your Mouth.
The Philadelphia Gay News stated, "While we note Chaput’s hatred toward LGBT people, that is not what he will be remembered for.
Chaput’s legacy will be that he enabled predator priests to molest and rape children. ” But Chaput, one might argue, has only been a Philadelphian since 2011.
Does Chaput really hate LGBT people because he opposes same sex marriage?
At the news of Pope Francis’ appointment of Perez to head the Philadelphia Archdiocese, the rejoicing in the progressive media was like the roar of excited Philadelphia hockey fans.
The Guardian, while describing Chaput as an "ultra traditionalist,” went on to sing the praises of Perez. The Washington Post praised Perez as "a Cuban American moderate” while reminding readers that Chaput criticized Pope Francis as being "too liberal” and stating that "mass shootings are caused by a culture of sexual anarchy and perverted freedom.’ Chaput, of course, was being made out to sound like the Catholic version of Jerry Falwell or the Westboro Baptist Church.
The Advocate headlined Philadelphia’s transition this way: "Anti-LGBTQ Archbishop Charles Chaput Fired in Philadelphia.” The fact is, Chaput was not "fired.” He turned in his resignation as every Catholic bishop is required to do when they hit age 75, and then it is up to the pope to accept or deny the resignation. The pope readily accepted Chaput’s resignation which does indicate that he was probably less than pleased with the prelate’s unambiguous points of view. Far left Catholics and over zealous secular reporters who know nothing about Catholicism (except that all popes wear white) managed to gain the insider Catholic view that since 2011, the pope never offered the reigning prelate of Philadelphia (a city usually headed by a a Cardinal), a red hat.
"He never got the red hat.” Translated, that means: "Even the pope felt he was a bigot.”
The big irony is that Perez was not bishop of Cleveland long enough to amass a track record on LGBTQ issues. He has no real record on LGBTQ issues but you can bet that when those views surface, they will parallel Chaput’s—to a ‘T.’
The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Mike Newall, who loves to showcase his more-radical-than-thou Catholic Worker-style Catholicism, wrote that Chaput always said the wrong thing in times of crisis, whereas "Perez talks about the church as it should be: universal. Chaput seemed at every opportunity to draw a line in the pews: These are the beliefs. You’re either with us or against us. Perez has said the diversity of the church is its greatest strength.”
But, if you were to push both Chaput and Perez to the wall and ask them simple ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ questions about Church doctrine both would give the same answers. Perez would echo Chaput’s beliefs on same sex marriage. Like it or not, the two views would be identical.
Perez may say them in a "nicer” way but his responses would parallel Chaput’s. The progressive media has the mistaken belief that when a representative of an institution like the Catholic Church says things in a ‘nicer way’ they are leaving the window open for radical change.
The new archbishop of Philadelphia is his own brand of progressive social justice warrior when it comes to immigration, a subject on which he is far from silent.
Chaput was criticized for commenting on social issues with a right of center point of view while the incoming Perez is being applauded for his left of center advocacy for "immigrants,” only immigrants in this case means the confusing conflating of illegal immigration with the legal kind, the latter being something that few good clergy persons would ever oppose.
