ARTICLES

Why, Oh Why Levada?

San Francisco Archbishop Appointed Head of Doctrinal Congregation

BY CHRISTOPHER ZEHNDER

How does Archbishop Levada "feel" about being made the Church's "chief doctrinal watchdog"?

"Well, I would say I'm more of a cocker spaniel than a rottweiler," answered Levada. The archbishop was speaking to reporters at a press conference held shortly after the May 13 announcement that Pope Benedict XVI had appointed him the head of the Holy See's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. When another reporter asked Levada if he thought his successor in San Francisco should be "more moderate than you are," the archbishop replied, "it is hard for me to imagine anyone more moderate than myself."

Indeed. Though, as the May 14 San Francisco Chronicle pointed out, "in San Francisco, Levada is seen as a rigid conservative on issues surrounding gay rights, euthanasia, abortion and sexual morality," the archbishop's "theological leanings place him in the moderate-conservative camp." This very fact has left "conservative" Catholics scratching their heads — why did the pope choose William Levada, of all people, as the Church's chief doctrinal guardian? Does the Church need moderation in addressing widespread dissent and outright defiance in her ranks? To guard the Church's inestimable doctrinal treasurers, do we really need a cocker spaniel?

Levada himself, in a May 13 statement, gave this reason for his appointment. "No doubt," quoth the archbishop, "his [Benedict's] choice of me is in part due to my familiarity with the work of the congregation over the years."

Certainly, Archbishop Levada is no stranger to the Congregation of the Doctrine for the Faith. From 1976 to 1982, Levada had served in the congregation under Cardinal Josef Ratzinger's predecessor, Cardinal Franjo Seper, and for a short time under Ratzinger himself, who took over from the retired Seper in 1981. Levada returned to California in 1982 and was appointed auxiliary bishop of Los Angeles in 1983, serving under Cardinal Roger Mahony, said to be a close friend of Levada. Since then, Levada has served as archbishop of Portland, Oregon, until being made archbishop of San Francisco in 1995. Yet, Levada's connection to the congregation had not ended. In 1987, Cardinal Ratzinger appointed him as one of a seven-bishop editorial committee to prepare a draft the Catechism of the Catholic Church. He was the author of the catechism's glossary. In 2000, Ratzinger appointed Levada a bishop member of the congregation.

Levada said in his May 13 statement that Pope Benedict's choice of him for prefect "is also a tribute to the Church in the United States, and a recognition of our important contribution to the work of the universal Church. I hope my 22 years of experience as a bishop in the United States will help to represent the Church here well at the Holy See, and to make the bonds between the See of Peter and the American bishops ever stronger." According to the May 14 San Francisco Chronicle, Levada has already been functioning in this liaison role. "Over the last two decades ... Levada has handled a number of sensitive Vatican assignments, acting as a kind of theological power broker between Rome and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops," said the article.

Some with whom I have spoken, though, have seen this qualification in a slightly different light than what Levada expressed. It may be that the Holy See wants to focus not on the United States Church's contributions to the Church universal but to bring American dioceses into line with Church teaching and discipline. Disciplinary actions would be more easily received if meted out by an American prefect than by a "foreigner." Also, since the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith deals with clergy sexual abuses cases; as Vatican analyst Rocco Palmo told the May 14 Chronicle, "it will be great having an American there, someone who knows where the bodies are buried. Levada walks into the office knowing all that."

It is not strange that, if an American were chosen to act as the liaison between the Vatican and the American bishops, Levada would be the man. In 2003, he began a three-year term as chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' committee on doctrine. During the meeting in June 2002 when the American bishops were discussing the sexual molestation crisis, Levada directed criticism at the bishops themselves for how they have handled clerical sex abusers. He currently serves on the delegation to the U.S. bishops' Mixed Commission for the Charter and Essential Norms for the Protection of Children and Young People and on the Task Force on Catholics in Political Life. Levada has also been helpful to the Vatican; he helped kill a homosexual rights parade in Rome during the 2000 jubilee year by sending Italian officials a videotape of the queer goings on during a 1998 parade in San Francisco.

But as a May 23 Time/Europe article pointed out, Levada, unlike Ratzinger, is "harder to pin down." As archbishop, Levada has not been consistently strong as a disciplinarian (some have said he has been woefully weak) nor has his theology always been clearly orthodox (see accompanying article, this issue). This has not gone unremarked in Rome, according to Time/Europe: "a traditionalist inside the Roman Curia was initially shocked at the choice. 'He's not at all the darling of the right,' he said." Yet, as Father Patrick Brennan, vicar for the archdiocese of Portland, pointed out, Levada's "not an academic theologian. He's a practical theologian." Such a "practical streak," said the Time/Europe article, "may mean Pope Benedict XVI expects Levada, 68, to pay more attention to the administrative demands of his new job than to the ideological ones." And, said a "well-placed Vatican official," "for this job," the pope "wanted to have someone he can rely on."

Over the years, it appears, Pope Benedict and Levada have been friends. One California priest noted to me that for Benedict, Levada is a known quantity; Benedict needed someone who knows the ropes of Vatican politics, and Levada certainly fits that bill. There may, perhaps, have been better choices, but these may already be filling other important posts from which the pope does not wish to remove them. Further, historically, said the California priest, the Holy Roman Inquisition, of which the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is the post-conciliar manifestation, has not been headed by a theologian but a canonist. This means that the agenda may be set, not by Levada, but by others in the congregation....

Or even by the pope himself.

And if this be the case, then all Benedict may need for doctrinal prefect is a good manager. After all, when the householder is vigilant over his treasures, he may not need a rottweiler for a watchdog. A cocker spaniel might serve just fine.

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