CELEBRATION IN ROME, CHALLENGES IN CHICAGO
If you generally respect the approach Blase Cupich has taken in leading the Catholic Church here in Chicago, then you will agree with us that his elevation to the rank of cardinal this weekend is good news for the Church worldwide, and for Catholics and non- Catholics alike.
In choosing Cupich to be a cardinal, Pope Francis has promoted a pastoral leader not unlike himself, one inclined toward tolerance and bridge- building, blessed with the common touch, and disinclined toward the more authoritarian approach of a polarizing predecessor. Cupich now will have a vote in future papal elections, and that’s good for a church that has always been at its best when caring deeply for the poor, the suffering and the marginalized.
When Cupich came to Chicago as archbishop two years ago, replacing the ailing Cardinal Francis George, he assumed the leadership of a philosophically divided Catholic community struggling with declining church and school attendance, a declining number of priests, a still- festering clerical sex abuse scandal and serious financial problems. Traditionalists still pined for the days of the Latin mass. More progressive Catholics, generally younger, were ready to bolt if the Church did not signal a more open inclusiveness, especially toward gays, divorced Catholics and women in leadership roles.
Cupich has moved in that more inclusive direction, much to the annoyance of traditionalists, but he has not gone far enough in the view of more liberal critics. Time will tell how well he has managed to bridge that divide, if it can be bridged, within the boundaries of the Church’s teachings. Time will tell — because it has not happened yet — whether he can return to the fold the disillusioned and the fallen- away.
In the meantime, Cupich has been a busy corporate CEO, and here too the results are a work in progress. He has reduced the number of Catholic schools from 240 to just 217, as part of a grand multi- year reorganization called Renew My Church, aimed at stabilizing the archdiocese’s finances while refocusing on the church’s core pastoral mission. But beyond simply retrenching — fewer schools and parishes — the archdiocese would do well to better articulate the Church’s more comprehensive role in ending an inner- city education crisis.
Given how much the Catholic Church has meant to our city, raising up generations of upstand- ing citizens and civic leaders, and running superb hospitals and social service agencies that serve all Chicagoan- area people, we certainly wish him well.
Cupich has been a champion on certain public policy issues that matter greatly to Chicago, a city of hard- working immigrants — not all of them here legally — that is beset by horrific gun violence. He has used his pulpit ( sometimes speaking in Spanish) to argue for compassionate reform of our immigration laws — the very opposite of mass deportations and walls. He has argued for further gun control measures, such as a ban on automatic weapons.
In these ways, Cupich is speaking as prominent religious leader, of course, but also simply as a concerned Chicagoan. You know, one of us.
We’d like to congratulate Cardinal Cupich on his big promotion. We look forward to seeing what he will do next for his Church — and for our city. He returns from Rome with his work cut out for him.