Boiling Frogs

The enervation of the laity and our shrugged response at the elevation of a heretic

I don’t spend much time talking about Catholic matters on this Substack. I’m sure everyone who subscribes to this newsletter knows that I am Catholic, but my angle here tends to be more broadly cultural rather than tightly focused on ecclesial matters.

However, in the spirit of fairness and being true to the spirit, I feel compelled to point out the obvious to those who try to be intentional about their attention. When Pope Francis announced that Cardinal McElroy would be replacing Cardinal Wilton Gregory in Washington D.C. the usual outlets lamented this move. But really, beyond the Lifesite News crew and the assorted “trad” publications, the response was pretty muted. It seemed like a shrug. And I must admit that this was my initial reaction, too. In fact, in my head I found myself playing the closing lines of the 1974 Jack Nicholson classic Chinatown on a loop: “forget it Kale…it’s Chinatown.”