Church historian John Jay Hughes reviews John Allen’s book on Opus Dei – in NCR

Also in NCR, a helpful, critical summary of the LA Archdiocesan document dump:

What caught my eye in that latter piece was this:

Bishop William Skylstad of Spokane, Wash., president of the U.S. Catholic bishops’ conference, told NCR that he expects recent developments on the sex abuse front in Philadelphia and Los Angeles to be talked about at the bishops’ fall meeting.

“Obviously, there will be some discussion of where the sexual abuse question is at,” he said.

“The general agenda is already set, but bishops can bring up anything they like at the last minute, and I’m sure there will be guys who will want to talk about this,” Skylstad said.

Stop. Breathe.

Hey GUYS…any of you want to talk about that sexual abuse stuff? Gosh…we didn’t put on the agenda? Really? What’s on the agenda anyway?

[Ahem…Your Excellency. "A statement presenting Catholic teaching on the death penalty, A Culture of Life and the Penalty of Death; a document entitled Co-workers in the Vineyard of the Lord: Resource for Guiding Development of Lay Ecclesial Ministry; an update on the Catholic Campaign for Immigration Reform; a report on the progress being made by the Ad Hoc Committee on the Church in Africa; and several matters pertaining to the Church’s liturgy, including discussion of the Order of Mass and debate and vote on the Lectionary for Masses with Children."]

Ah, yes, yes. Lots to talk about. So. Guys. Anyone want to talk about Philadelphia or LA? Bankruptcy? No? Gee…too bad. Who’s ready for a drink?"