That wouldn't sit right with a handful of active and devout local Catholics I spoke with yesterday, when I asked what advice they'd give Chaput if they could have a sit-down with him.
"He needs to know that Catholics in this Archdiocese are passionate about our parishes and schools," says Haddonfield attorney Jason Marquess. He leads a well-heeled group of alums from North Catholic High School (he graduated in '67) who donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Archdiocese to fund its alma mater in recent years - only to see Rigali shut it down.
"I've traveled all over for business and attended Mass in almost every city in this country," says Marquess, who remains angry over Rigali's refusal to discuss his alumni group's offer to launch an independent Catholic school on the North Catholic site.
"No city is as identified with their parishes and schools as we are here. It's a reflection of the fact that Philly is a city of neighborhoods. [Chaput] needs to spend time in each parish, not just glad-handing at special events but really getting to know the people in the neighborhoods."
If Rigali had done that, Marquess says, he'd have cared how devastating his school-closing decisions have been on families.
"If the Archdiocese wants to reverse the trend of Catholics' leaving, the only way to do it is by listening to the laity," says Marquess.
His words ring true with Sister Maureen Turlish, head of Voice of the Faithful Philadelphia, the Catholic reform-advocacy group.
"I'd ask Chaput to see that being a 'good' Catholic doesn't require that you blindly follow church leadership," says Turlish. "I would tell him, 'We are not the enemy. We are good Catholics. We need to work together.' "
There's the institutional church, she says, and then there is the real church - the people.
