UPDATE: Arinze vs. Flynn??

Nice... I think we can assume the letter is real after all! Or at least, there is truth in it that has not been refuted, but instead has sparked this statement --

Found on the Catholic News Service (the news organization of the USCCB):
"ST. PAUL, Minn. (CNS) -- A Vatican official has recommended that U.S. bishops adopt a uniform pastoral approach for ministering to members of Rainbow Sash, a gay rights group, said Archbishop Harry J. Flynn of St. Paul-Minneapolis.

Archbishop Flynn allows members wearing the sash to receive Communion, while some other bishops do not.

In a Jan. 26 statement, Archbishop Flynn said he met in mid-December with Cardinal Francis Arinze, head of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, to discuss "the difficult pastoral situation" of Rainbow Sash.

Cardinal Arinze "did not in fact suggest an immediate change to the policy in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis," Archbishop Flynn said in his statement.

"However, he did clearly indicate that this situation merits further study and that ideally all of the bishops who have pastoral care for the members of this movement should seek to adopt a uniform approach," the statement said. "This recommendation needs to be reviewed by those bishops involved in the near future."

Archbishop Flynn said he was issuing the statement to clarify remarks he made in an interview with Catholic News Service in December.

In the December CNS interview, Archbishop Flynn said it was recognized that U.S. bishops have come to different conclusions about how to respond to Rainbow Sash members who present themselves for Communion, but he said he got no sense that the Vatican was pushing for a single policy on this."

See complete article at http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0500509.htm


Subtle how Archbishop Flynn's phrasing things now, isn't it? Now he's saying both that Cardinal Arinze did not tell him to make an "immediate" change in his policy, and also that Arinze "indicat[ed]" that there should be a uniform policy in place by the US Bishops.

Funny -- here's what he said back on December 14th --

"Archbishop Flynn said it was recognized that U.S. bishops have come to different conclusions about how to respond to Rainbow Sash members who present themselves for Communion, but he said he got no sense that the Vatican was pushing for a single policy on this."

(See the original CNS article from December 14th at http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0406824.htm )

Nice way to "clarify" your past comments about your meeting with the good Cardinal, Archbishop, now what are we supposed to think? There is no indication in this article that this is "new" information. Are you just "reinterpreting" old information?

Oh yes -- and this article might also be of interest to people. This is not the first time Kralis and Flynn have sparred -- but this time, it's interesting that there was no refutation by Flynn, but only a "clarification." http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0405310.htm

I think the Archbishop needs to clarify his clarification...

(Catholic World News has another good blog analysis of this at Off the Record)