Curious! A man in a big red hat!

At Left: Cardinal-in-waiting Seán O'Malley poses in Rome with an admirer.

Boston Archbishop Seán (danged accents!) Patrick O'Malley is getting kicked upstairs! Hooray! There are worse choices!

We at TCC truly see the soon-to-be Cardinal as a good man. Not necessarily a great man, at least not yet, but a good man for the job. O'Malley has done away with much of the accumulated pomp and self-importance of his office, while appearing as a humble man of God. Anybody who walks around New England in sandals in winter can't be all bad. Of course, one bishop does not a diocese make, and there are still plenty of bungling harebrained holdovers from the Law era to give one pause.

So here's a quick prayer for our new "Prince of the Church":

Dear Lord,

Thank you for managing to get us a decent servant as your head shepherd in Boston. May he grow in holiness and grace in the service of your people. May he learn that we in the laity are less his subjects than his brothers and sisters -- whose advice and counsel are often Yours. May he learn to discern the wolves and nitwits among his brother bishops and priests, and that in short order! May he learn to rule with softness with his people and sternly with himself. May he be entirely free of the Bishops' Disease -- sucking up to the pope at the expense of his conscience.

Do forgive him his shortcomings, and help him to unite his people in love and justice.

Hoping this is not too fantastical a request, even for you, O Omnipotent Father, we ask this through Christ, our Lord,

Amen.