ARCC spot LIGHT - Bingo and Fish Fry Bishop

ARCC spot LIGHT (analysis of Church issues offered by the ARCC Publications Committee, J.. Bokel & R. Schutzius, eds.)

 

Bingo and Fish Fry Bishop
Jun 2, 2009

In a bow to populism, Timothy Dolan the new Archbishop of New York, described himself in an interview somewhere between Milwaukee and New York, as a "bingo and fish fry priest".  This would elicit on the part of many Catholics of a certain age certain remembrances of their parish life when both artifacts, one a game of chance and communal socializing mostly among the women, and the other a one night of the month (usually the first Friday) when Mom didn’t have to cook her own version of a meatless meal; both were also modest money-makers for the parish organizations.  Those were, and still are in many places, the days! 

In identifying himself with those cultural high-water marks of the past, the Archbishop seems to be trying to forge a bond between the lofty office he has since assumed and the people. Given that his own history of ministering as a parish priest includes just one year in a tony parish in suburban St. Louis before spending the rest of his priesthood in official capacities in Washington, D.C., Rome, St. Louis, and Milwaukee, one has to be impressed with his Irish canniness in identifying with the common man, even though he is more at home with the power brokers and elites with whom he has broken bread in all those places he has lived and worked.  But the chord is struck; he is a common man, and to prove it he has already scored seats in the owner’s box at Yankee, Giants, and Mets games. 

It is nice to have the common touch exhibited by the powerful; Obama having lunch at a burger joint.  But this is a backward-looking stance, far from the concerns of many Catholics of the moment; one could see this as an obvious ploy.  Bingo and fish frys are a phenomenon from the past, but Catholics are looking for a pastoral Bishop whose common touch recognizes their plight in feeding their families, keeping a job, and having some sense of where the Church is heading.  We are talking about leadership from the Bishop, something far more than the expected ‘position’ on all things related to sexual matters.  What the Church needs, it seems, is someone to offer a vision of the future, to engage the people in that vision through open and honest dialogue, and the courage to accept those things that may be in conflict with one’s own views, and more menacingly, the views of Rome. The bingo and fish fry guy doesn’t fly in these circumstances; he’s already missed the boat to do something of importance and value. 

The people (give them bread and circuses in the Roman times) seem smitten with his Irish charm, especially given the dour disposition of his predecessor Richard Egan.  Even though he might proffer a velvet glove to the Catholic Governor of NY about impending legislation over the rights of gays to marry, he will push only so hard so as not to disturb the bonhomie he has thus far created, and which follows the tradition of worldly Archbishops of the most important Archdiocese in the most important city of the world, as some describe the job: "go along to get along", as a motto.  Fidelity is to Rome and to his old friend, the Pope, not to the people of the Archdiocese; he is not so much a populist that he would forget who put him there.  And when push comes to shove, bingo and fish fry Catholics will look in vain for their Bishop to see their deeper concerns about living a life devoted to the teachings of Jesus.  Blarney sells, yesterday, today, and tomorrow.  No more so than in his book called Priests of the Third Millennium in which his talks to his captive audience, students at the North American College in Rome, get to hear recycled stories of his past, and his role models; there is nothing new.  So, why not bingo and fish frys!  As the formula for success in the musical Chicago suggests, “give‘em that old razzle-dazzle”. 

It is a great show, but we are hoping for, and deserving of, more.

Remembering the Women Sunday Readings  

6/7- Most Holy Trinity Sunday, Deuteronomy 32:10-18, 2 Timothy 4:19-22

6/13 - Corpus Christi Sunday,  (no readings offered) 

 

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