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The church's new watchdog: God's 'cocker spaniel'? San Francisco's Levada has reputation for pastoral nuance.

Article Excerpt
Given that the mission of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is safe-guarding Catholic orthodoxy, it's hardly a shock that Pope Benedict XVI, who as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger led that office for almost a quarter-century, has tapped as his successor an equally tenacious guardian of the church's doctrine.

Potentially more surprising is what else Archbishop William J. Levada, 68, of San Francisco is said to bring to the job: for example, a reputation as a pragmatic and inventive administrator; a capacity for nuance that rarely leaves ideologues satisfied; a commitment to ecumenism and interreligious dialogue; and a generous personal side that means, according to admirers, that censures and crackdowns are almost always a last resort.

"He is subtle, flexible and creative in applying church teaching and moral principles to specific contexts," said Jesuit Fr. Steven Privett, president of the University of San Francisco.

When Levada arrived in San Francisco in 1995, some predicted clashes between Levada the "hardliner" and what many saw as a left-leaning atmosphere at the university. Privett, however, said it hasn't generally worked out this way.

"He strikes me as someone who comes close to embodying the maxim, 'In necessary things, unity; in doubtful things, liberty; in all things, charity,'" Privett told NCR May 14.

Equally glowing tributes come from different quarters.

Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver, seen as a leading spokesperson for the conservative wing of American Catholicism, praised the new doctrinal czar.

"Archbishop Levada has served the church in San Francisco with courage in a very challenging environment," Chaput told NCR May 15. "He is a man of character, intelligence and faithfulness to church teaching."

Australian Jesuit Gerald O'Collins, a former colleague of Levada at Rome's Gregorian University, put the point simply: "He's an extremely decent human being."

None of this is to suggest that Levada basks in universal praise. From the left, some have criticized his opposition to some forms of gender-neutral "inclusive language" in liturgical texts, and his role in "watering down" a proposed pastoral letter on women by the U.S. bishops. On the right, some lament his failure to take a stronger hand at the University of San Francisco or his nuanced position on the question of denying Communion to pro-choice Catholic politicians.

Some sex abuse victims have charged that his record on that issue is worrying. Terrie Light, a San Francisco-area member of the Survivor's Network of those Abused by Priests, said in a May 13 statement that Levada's appointment "sends a hurtful and chilling message to victims of predatory priests and a disheartening message to Catholics."

Whatever one makes of such contrasting images, in the wake of Levada's May 13 appointment as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, one thing seems beyond dispute: William J. Levada now matters as few Americans ever have in the Catholic church.

By virtue of his new job, Levada automatically becomes the most powerful American in the Roman curia, and the first American ever to...