A Heart of Gold
We’ve had some pretty negative things to say about Thomas Gumbleton, Auxiliary Bishop of Detroit, in our New Oxford Notes section (Feb. 2003, Jan. 2005, April 2005). Gumbleton believes in universal salvation (except possibly for orthodox Catholics), he believes that “gay” sex can be moral, and he believes in ordaining priestesses. He’s your prototypical bleeding heart.
Were your Editor the pope, he would have had Gumbleton defrocked long ago.
Gumbleton was consecrated Auxiliary Bishop of Detroit at the incredibly young age of 38 (in the screwy days of 1968), and now, having turned 75, he’s still a lowly Auxiliary Bishop in the unglamorous city of Detroit (and as of this writing his resignation has not been accepted by the Holy See). If Gumbleton had played his cards right, he would surely be a cardinal.
An apt contrast would be with Roger Mahony, also a liberal Catholic. He was consecrated Auxiliary Bishop of Fresno at age 39 (in 1975). When John Paul II emerged in 1978, Mahony adopted John Paul’s orthodox ways. As a reward, he then became Archbishop and Cardinal of the glamorous city of Los Angeles, whereupon he resumed his liberal ways. Mahony is known far and wide for his vanity.
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