SF Bay Archbishop Levada new head of CDF

The rumor mills were right... Archbishop Levada from San Francisco has been tapped to take Cardinal Ratzinger's place as prefect of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith...

CWNews: US Archbishop to head Vatican doctrinal congregation

Hmmmm... While Levada's orthodox track record (to us in the pews) seems vague and weak, we've gotta trust the Pope Benedict knows what he's doing. And, we can't forget that Levada did serve at the CDF already in the late 80s under Ratzinger, so presumably he showed good judgement then. Additionally, it is the case that it is "easier" to be orthodox in the middle of the Vatican answering only to a holy and orthodox pontiff -- I think a lot of these bishops are quite simply weak, if they weren't influenced so much by the polls and "chancery morale" perhaps they would be less afraid to stand up for truth "in season and out of season."

In any case, with Pope Benedict at the helm I sincerely doubt that there would be any "trouble" no matter who was tapped for the CDF head, I think it is clear that B16 will be a "hands on" Pope when necessary, yet still a good delegator.

Plus -- this opens up the SF Archdiocese again... some would suggest that this allows for a stronger bishop to come in for some housecleaning...