I think some of us on the left tend to under-estimate the degree of nastiness bishops have to put up with from their right wing flanks. Maybe that is because we dismiss the far right extremists as kooks. But, they are noisy kooks. Think of the attacks on CCHD, and the way the bishops have resisted efforts to dismantle that signature anti-poverty program. Or of Father Guarnizo, the communion-denying priest who basically called Cardinal Wuerl a liar last week.
Now, we have two new examples of far-right attacks on the bishops. The first is an article in the American Spectator that calls out Cardinal Wuerl for his handling of the Guarnizo case and argues that the cardinal has been derelict in his duty. The author notes the stance of Cardinal Raymond Burke on the issue of denying communion, conveniently ignoring the fact that many conservative canonists agree that Guarnizo went too far. The author is clearly unaware of the role of a bishop in his own diocese when he writes: "Cardinal Burke has spoken; the case is closed." Perhaps someone should inform the Pope that Cardinal Burke disapproves of the way he, and his predecessor Pope John Paul II, dealt with the issue of denying communion - they didn't do it.
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