We've been a bit silent here about the largest religious organization in town, namely the Archdiocese of Washington, which oversees 580,000 Roman Catholics. Eighteen months after the installation of Archbishop Donald Wuerl, it's been a different ballgame in terms of news coming from the chancery.
In the good old days of Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, there seemed to be a press release every other day about his travels to hotspots such as Sri Lanka for tsunami relief or to Moscow as part of a Vatican delegation that delivered the revered Our Lady of Kazan icon to Russian Patriarch Alexy II. His chairmanship of the U.S. Bishops' Task Force on Catholic Bishops and Catholic Politicians made great news as did his secret confabs with pro-choice Democrats on the Hill and his tete-a-tete dinner with the newly elected President Bush and his wife, Laura.
Archbishop Wuerl, in contrast, has drawn the shades. Not a whole lot of press releases emanate from his office compared to the busy cardinal. Which is not to say the man isn't doing anything; it's just that we don't often hear about it. Yours truly had to go the extra mile — including chasing Sen. John Kerry around the U.S. Capitol — when researching a piece last June on the archbishop's first year in office. That story is here.
The big news during his term thus far has been the closing of several inner-city Catholic schools, the upcoming papal visit and the fact he wasn't made a cardinal last November. His 2007 Lenten pastoral letter on repentance got such a good reception, he'll be writing again on the topic this coming Lent. Must be a lot of sinning going on in the District.
Back to the cardinal, what's he been doing now that he's footloose and fancy free? Well, his passport's gotten quite the workout. Ports of call include the Balkans, New Zealand, Kazakhstan, Argentina, Canada, France, India, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Moscow (again), Lebanon, Syria, South Africa and all over these United States.
The 77-year-old prelate got lots of PR from his September trip along the coast of southwest Greenland as a Vatican rep to a global warming conference called by the environmentally minded Orthodox patriarch of Constantinople. The big photo op there was a gathering of a small army of scientists and religious leaders to offer prayers near the Ilulissat glacier. But not everyone thought the cardinal should be praying near so much melting snow. "Cardinal McCarrick Goes Green," one blog proclaimed. "Soul on Ice."
-- Julia Duin, assistant national editor/religion, The Washington Times
