It’s been over a year since the Archbishop of Chicago, Cardinal Francis George, submitted his resignation letter\u201d\u201dmandatory when princes of the Catholic Church turn 75\u201d\u201dto then- Pope Benedict XVI. In a highly unusual turn of events, Benedict was the one who resigned. That left Cardinal George\u201d\u201dwhose intellectual vigor is matched by a forceful defense of the church\u201d\u201dstill on the job.<\/p>\n
Some wish he weren’t. In late July, eight Illinois state lawmakers signed an open letter criticizing Cardinal George, among others, for threatening to end the church’s financial support for a rights group. The church had cited the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, because the group came out for the legalization of same-sex marriage in May. The politicians\u201d\u201dall Catholic Democrats\u201d\u201dsaid the threat of a funding withdrawal was “not worthy of the church we know, love and respect.” They said Cardinal George and others were using “immigrants and those who seek to help them as pawns in a political battle.”<\/p>\n
But the decision had nothing to do with politics. The church doles out money to organizations on the assumption that they will not violate church teachings. If a church-funded environmental group announced its support for abortion, for instance, it could lose funding.<\/p>\n