Lots and lots of people have advice for Archbishop Chaput for when he comes to Philadelphia.  So do I.

Don’t take any advice.

I conclude that the reason the Holy Father chose Archbishop Chaput for the important job in Philadelphia is because he liked the job he did in Denver. Makes sense, right?

My sincerest hope is that the new Bishop of Philadelphia will be exactly like the old Bishop of Denver.  Others, however, think that Charles Chaput has just been elected representative of their little faction of the Church.

There are those in the Church who want what they want and they think that the Bishop’s job is to give it to them.

It seems that every Bishop now has to deal with the faction that says “the last guy in charge shut down my school/parish/bingo game and me and six of my friends are very upset about it ‘cause its like so unfair that we didn’t, like, get our way. Or something…”

“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.

Bishops sometimes have to make tough administrative decisions.  Some people did not like Cardinal Rigali’s decisions and some people will not like Archbishop Chaput’s decisions.  The only open question is will it be the same people.

But aside from that stuff, it seems reflexive now that every time a Biahop is named to a major see, newspapers get as many quotes from people advising him that in order to be successful, he cannot be too Catholic. Case in laughable point. Sister Maureen Turlish, head of Voice of the Faithful Philadelphia.

“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.

Oh, I am so sure he will do just that.  After all, he is the same guy who said this (on a national issue) when the virulently pro-abortion President was given an honorary degree from that formerly Catholic University in South Bend.

We also have the duty to oppose him when he’s wrong on foundational issues like abortion, embryonic stem cell research and similar matters. And we also have the duty to avoid prostituting our Catholic identity by appeals to phony dialogue that mask an abdication of our moral witness. Notre Dame did not merely invite the president to speak at its commencement. It also conferred an unnecessary and unearned honorary law degree on a man committed to upholding one of the worst Supreme Court decisions in our nation’s history: Roe v. Wade.

... There was no excuse – none, except intellectual vanity – for the university to persist in its course. And Father Jenkins compounded a bad original decision with evasive and disingenuous explanations to subsequently justify it. ..

Booyah!! The Bishop who wrote that is the Bishop I want to see in Philadelphia and apparently so does Pope Benedict.

Archbishop Chaput, you don’t need advice.  You just need to keep on keepin’ on.