We are not baptized into the hierarchy; do not receive the Cardinals sacramentally; will not spend an eternity in the beatific vision of the pope. … Christ is the point. I, myself, admire the present pope [John Paul II], but even if I criticized him as harshly as some do, even if his successor proved to be as bad as some of those who have gone before, even if I find the church, as I have to live with it, a pain in the neck, I should still say that nothing a pope (or a priest) could do or say would make me wish to leave the church, although I might well wish that they would leave. — Frank J. Sheed

A theologian friend who embraced the Roman Catholic faith in full knowledge of how badly compromised and cowardly many of the Catholic bishops have been sent me that quote by the great Catholic apologist Frank Sheed last night. It’s a great quote, and a true one, whatever church you belong to. I’ll send it on to an Orthodox friend who is really down over the mess in our church…