I have to admit that after reading the New York Times article concerning Cardinal Egan’s radio interview, I was left puzzled. Egan is about to retire from arguably the most important Catholic See in the country and he chooses to question the discipline of celibacy? I find it rather odd. However, after reading National Catholic Reporter John Allen’s piece on Pope Benedict’s trip to Africa, another thought occurred to me. Perhaps, Egan, himself a skilled handler of the press and canon lawyer, wanted to deflect attention away from the upcoming vote in Albany on the Child Victim Act.
Allen’s piece on how Benedict got trapped into a discussion of condoms when the Pope clearly wanted to talk about his message of hope for the African continent. In other words, Benedict allowed the traveling press corps to control the news cycle. Perhaps Egan is a bit more clever. By revisiting the question of celibacy in light of the priest shortage in the US, he avoids the more difficult issue of the abuse legislation being considered in Albany.
While this is mere conjecture on my part, it may be that Egan wanted to discuss the shortage of priests rather than those who’ve abused in New York. If that was his strategy, it worked. The New York Times’ headline talked about Egan breathing new life into the discussion on celibacy. If the Cardinal is talking about a hot topic such as celibacy it allows Catholic lobbyists in Albany to continue behind the scenes applying pressure on state legislators.