A DC priest is transferred, and no one is pleased

A popular priest who is being forced out as pastor of a Georgetown parish by Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, archbishop of Washington, has groused publicly about his ouster, and his congregation is rallying to his defense.
    Parishioners at the red-brick Church of the Epiphany, where Democratic Sens. Edward M. Kennedy and John Kerry occasionally worship and manners maven Letitia Baldridge is a member, have demanded a meeting with the cardinal on the transfer of the Rev. Winthrop Brainerd.
    "People were stunned, and they started coming up to me and asking what they can do," said Gregory Doolan, chairman of the parish council.
    Parish council members say they are getting no response from Cardinal McCarrick on their request for a meeting.
    Cardinal McCarrick told The Washington Times that Father Brainerd is "a good priest" and a great deal of "thought and prayer" went into the priest’s reassignment. But he declined to discuss the matter in detail, saying it was a personnel issue.