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From Karl Keatings E-letter.

“I am sadly amused, though not surprised, at the sappy over-eulogizing of the former bishop of Saginaw, Michigan, Kenneth Untener. May he rest in peace, but at least when speaking about him, we should be honest. And honestly, what is so humble about a man who refused to submit himself to the teaching and discipline of the church he promised to serve … and what is so visionary about a man whose ideology and vision has [sic] not been replicated anywhere and will die with his generation because it is not being widely replicated with my generation?

“I understand that he is very popular with you older folks at NCR and Call to Action and the like, but the future of the Church is in us ‘young fogeys,’ as Fr. Andrew Greeley recently referred to our next generation of priests and Church professionals. You may not like that, but at least you should be honest about it.

“Every person I have every met, particularly in the field of Church work, who admires anything even close to Bishop Ken’s vision is over 50. Young people, particularly young Catholic women–I am 24–are embracing a much more dynamic John Paul II-esque interpretation of Vatican II, which includes liturgical fidelity, attraction to Christ-centered (and habit-wearing) religious life, and not only an acceptance of but a love for the Church’s teachings on the all-male priesthood and the immorality of contraception. And we are the ones graduating from theology schools to minister to youth, teach religion, and write textbooks.

“Bishop Ken may have been a well-meaning, nice man. I hope that God is as merciful to him as he will be to me when all the mistakes I have made in my ministry are before him. But to call him a ‘visionary’ seems both dishonest and blind when his vision did not capture the next generation!”

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