So this has happened:
1. Jan. 7: Washington Post breaks Opus Dei-McCloskey story.
2. Jan. 8: Cardinal Burke mounts an attack on Pope Francis on German t.v., saying his response to the abuse crisis is "confusing." /1— 𝚆𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚊𝚖 𝙳. 𝙻𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚜𝚎𝚢 (@wdlindsy) January 14, 2019
3. Jan. 9: Steinfels' essay undercutting the PA grand jury report appears in Commonweal (it's dated Jan. 14 now, but first appeared on the 9th).
4. Jan 10: Burke mounts another attack, this time on Fr. James Martin. /2— 𝚆𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚊𝚖 𝙳. 𝙻𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚜𝚎𝚢 (@wdlindsy) January 14, 2019
5. Jan. 14: Viganò crawls out from under his rock (he's been in "hiding" in fear for his life) to mount another attack on McCarrick -- which is, of course, a continuation of his attack on Francis.
What to make of this chain of events? /3— 𝚆𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚊𝚖 𝙳. 𝙻𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚜𝚎𝚢 (@wdlindsy) January 14, 2019
One possible reading: lots of agitation on the Catholic right about the exposing of Opus Dei and McCloskey.
The Catholic "establishment" would not place Steinfels and Commonweal in a chain of events spurred by agitation of the Catholic right. I'm inclined to do so. /4— 𝚆𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚊𝚖 𝙳. 𝙻𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚜𝚎𝚢 (@wdlindsy) January 14, 2019
Somebody — or quite a few somebodies — seem to be rather agitated and exercised at the decentering of longstanding narratives about the abuse crisis, gay priests, Francis, a decentering due to the recent explosive revelations about Opus Dei and McCloskey. /5— 𝚆𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚊𝚖 𝙳. 𝙻𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚜𝚎𝚢 (@wdlindsy) January 14, 2019
A footnote to the preceding chain of tweets: I think the Catholic intellectual establishment in the U.S., its journalistic and academic elite, leans far more to the right than many so-called liberal Catholics realize, and is very much part of the problem that has resulted in 6 in 10 white Catholics electing Trump.
