John Allen's interview with Cardinal George

Over at Crux, John Allen has a wide-ranging and interesting interview up with Chicago's Cardinal George.  Among other things: 

He spurns the entire left/right dichotomy, calling it “destructive of the Church’s mission and her life.”

“For us, the category that matters is true/false,” he said. “I reject the whole liberal/conservative deformation of the character of our lives. If you’re limited to that … then somehow or other you’ve betrayed your vocation as a bishop and a priest.”

Other highlights of the interview:

• George denies being a culture warrior, and says he “deeply resents” suggestions he’s not as passionate about social justice and the poor as his successor.

In the Spring of 2007, I taught a course on "Catholic Social Thought and the Law," and Cardinal George was generous enough to join the class for a session and for dinner.  He is now, as Allen puts it, "fighting for his life" against cancer, and I hope we all are praying for him.   I was also struck by this:

From my perspective, I’ve seen myself for a long time as engaging culture. Engagement is not warfare. I know that’s less dramatic to say, and people like to have drama, but calling it ‘war’ deforms what I’m about. It really denigrates my motivation, and I resent that. I’m not trying to beat anybody up at all; I’m trying to proclaim the truth of the Gospel, which I have an obligation to do. Maybe there are times I could it more skillfully, or in a way that seems less abrasive. Of course, there are some people who think it’s abrasive as soon as you say, ‘I disagree with you.’ There’s not much I can do about that.

Read the whole thing!