c. 2005 Religion News Service
(UNDATED) Pope Benedict XVI on Friday (May 13) named the archbishop of San Francisco, William Levada, to the pope’s old job as guardian of the Catholic faith, making Levada the highest-ranking American ever to serve at the Vatican.
Levada, 68, was named prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, a powerful post that Benedict himself held for nearly a quarter-century until his election as pope on April 19.
In his new post, Levada will be responsible for policing all aspects of church teaching, making him in effect the church’s theology czar. His portfolio covers some of the church’s most sensitive issues, including homosexuality, abortion and sexually abusive priests.
Church observers say the choice of Levada _ doctrinally conservative, a veteran of the church bureaucracy and well-versed in the 21st-century social trends confronting the church _ is a clear sign that Benedict intends to steer a traditional course while also engaging the larger world.
Having an American in such a high-profile position could be a mixed blessing for U.S. Catholics, who have complained their concerns are sometimes ignored by Rome, but at the same time are nervous about aggressive Vatican scrutiny.
“It would appear to put the American church in the Vatican’s sights,” said David Gibson, author of “The Coming Catholic Church.” “It makes the American church look like a target.
“I think it could make a lot of people nervous, and that just might be what they want.”
Levada, who has served in San Francisco since 1995, worked as a staffer at the congregation from 1976-1982. Since 2002, he has been one of four archbishops to hold membership in the congregation.
With the job, Levada will almost certainly be named a cardinal, but will be known as “pro-prefect” until he receives a cardinal’s red hat. The Vatican has not announced a date for a consistory to name new cardinals.
As first reported by Religion News Service on May 3, Levada emerged as a top contender for the job after he became the first U.S. prelate to have a private audience with the new pope. The two men have known each other for nearly 25 years when they were both at the congregation in the early 1980s.
Associates say the two men share a close friendship, as well as a hard-line public reputation that does not match their quiet, somewhat shy personalities. In short, friends say, both have been misunderstood.
Brian Saint-Paul, editor of the conservative Crisis magazine, said the two men are on “the same page” in dealing with controversy, preferring to “persuade” before turning to discipline.
“Pope Benedict trusts this man, and he knows better than anyone else what is involved in heading up this congregation,” Saint-Paul said. “He believes that Levada is fully equipped to do that work.”
Levada shares the pope’s conservative doctrinal views, but at times has shown a pragmatic and open streak. “Archbishop Levada is conservative in his approach to theological issues, but he seems to take care to explain his own positions carefully and without rancor,” said the Rev. Richard McBrien of the University of Notre Dame.
After the pope, the job is second only to the Secretary of State within the church hierarchy. During his tenure, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger _ now Benedict XVI _ set precise boundaries around acceptable teaching, becoming in the words of one writer, “the iron fist in the velvet glove” of Pope John Paul II.
Ratzinger used the office to silence rogue theologians, defined the church’s relationship with other Christians and other faiths, halted discussion of women’s ordination or married priests, and fine-tuned church opposition to homosexuality, abortion and stem-cell research.
During last year’s tumultuous presidential election, Ratzinger offered guidance to U.S. bishops that they could deny Communion to Catholic politicians who support abortion rights, but stopped short of imposing a blanket policy.
The stern nature of the job comes, in part, from history. The office was formally established in 1542 and became known as the Holy Roman and Universal Inquisition and later published the infamous “Index of Forbidden Books.”
Levada will inherit a staff of about 40 people who will oversee as much discipline as doctrine. The office has jurisdiction over marriage annulments, sins of the clergy and all abuse cases, and any case that appears to violate the teaching of the church.
Levada’s resume includes wrestling with many of the current issues facing the church, although not always successfully:
_ Homosexuality: In San Francisco, Levada has held the line against gay marriage, but brokered an agreement with the city in 1997 that continued public funding to Catholic Charities while also allowing employees to enroll domestic partners in church-sponsored health care.
_ Sexual abuse: A San Francisco jury in April awarded nearly $6 million to four alleged abuse victims, and dioceses across the state are facing a flood of abuse-related lawsuits. From 1986-1995, Levada led the Archdiocese of Portland, Ore., which last year became the first U.S. diocese to declare bankruptcy because of abuse-related lawsuits.
_ Stem-cell research: Levada and other California bishops unsuccessfully tried to block a $3 billion statewide initiative to provide public funding for embryonic stem-cell research. Much of the research is headquartered in or around the Bay area.
_ Euthanasia: While in Portland, Levada led church opposition to a 1994 ballot initiative that made Oregon the first state in the nation to allow doctor-assisted suicide.
_ Abortion and politics: As a member of a U.S. bishops’ task force on Catholic politicians, Levada said opposing “the evil of abortion” is necessary to remain a Catholic in good standing, but stepped back from a wholesale policy of denying Communion to dissenting politicians.
One area in which Levada is not well known, ironically, is theology. Although he helped update the church’s Catechism and chairs the U.S. bishops’ doctrine committee, he is not widely published or a “big presence” among Catholic theologians, said Stephen Pope of Boston College.
“It’s odd, from a disciplinary standpoint, because he’ll be somebody who will be asked to review publications and the work of theologians when he’s not trained in their fields,” Pope said.
Advocates for victims of sexual abuse say Levada has been unresponsive and has worked to keep church records sealed. The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) accused Levada of keeping priests with credible allegations of abuse in their pulpits.
“This doesn’t bode well for abuse survivors,” said SNAP’s national director, David Clohessy. “His track record has been abysmal.”
Supporters of greater lay involvement, meanwhile, have mixed feelings. Jim Post, president of the Boston-based Voice of the Faithful, said an American at the top levels of the Vatican hierarchy will be helpful, even if Levada has kept lay reformers at “arm’s length” in San Francisco.
“He’s not going to change his stripes in his views on things, but he has a kind of wisdom that comes out of this lived experience in the United States,” said Jim Post, the group’s president.
“You have to be hopeful that it will have some effect in terms of the church’s openness to greater lay involvement.”
_ Peggy Polk contributed to this report from the Vatican.
Editors: Check the RNS photo Web site at https://religionnews.com for photos of Levada and Benedict to accompany this story. Search for each by name.
Also, see related stories, RNS-LEVADA-OFFICE (a short description of Levada’s new office) and RNS-LEVADA-BIOBOX (a brief biographical sketch).
AMB END ECKSTROM
