This little piggy went virtual, but users and investors should beware, it seems.

Reactions, as from Archbp Dolan of NYC:

“As a priest and bishop, I particularly welcome his reminder that the clergy are primarily to serve as shepherds, to be with our people, to walk with them, to be pastors, not bureaucrats!

Rev. Thomas Reese, SJ:

“Reading this interview gave me greater insight into my Jesuit vocation and into our Jesuit pope,” he said. “What is clear is that he does not think like a classicist who sees the world in unchanging categories. He is a storyteller like Jesus, not a philosopher. He thinks in narrative, not philosophical principles. He thinks like a pastor understanding the history of the church but wanting to move with God’s people confidently into the future. He trusts that the spirit [sic: capitalized by Reese, not by LA Times piece,
unfortunately] is alive and well in the people of God.”

Kathryn Jean Lopez (at Fox News):

“Whatever your politics,” she concluded, “be careful what you read into this. He’s talking to you. He’s talking to me. He’s reminding himself. The news isn’t that he isn’t ‘a right-winger,’ as he tells us. It’s that he’s a pastor. He’s a priest, not a politician.’

Bill Donaghue of Catholic League:

“The pope is right that single-issue Catholics need to rise above their immediate concerns,” he wrote on his organization’s website. “He did not say we should not address abortion or homosexuality; he simply said we cannot be absorbed by these issues. Both the left and the right should heed his message.”

A major LGBT lobby:

The Human Rights Campaign, which supports lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights, hailed the pope’s remarks, saying they should lead to “transformative change” throughout the Catholic Church.

Me: It’s a splendid bit of advice for pastors, capturing the spirit (small “s”) of Catholic preaching and mass-celebration in 95% of the churches and at the masses I attend. A nice corrective to overemphasis when it arises.

It flashes no red light for activists seeking to protect the church’s independence from hyperactive LGBT and other propagandists (promoters?) and legislators et al. who would impinge on it — such as this about compulsory sex-education at UCLA and the rights of conscientious objectors. I can see a bishop calling attention to such a matter as a function of his pastoral responsibilities. So can the Pope, I’m sure.

$50 million for doors etc.

Note, however, that it’s part of a $31 billion spending program signed into law by Gov. Quinn, a.k.a. Santa Claus, in July of ’09.

See how the governor can play Santa Claus to voters throughout the state, fiddling all the while as state’s deficits mount.