Cardinals Let the Bad Times Roll

The nasty kid-punishing ball has bounced from Boston to San Francisco. Our Archbishop is not the only one writhing under the squinty glare of the Inquisition. Woe to him who lets even three problem children be adopted by (gasp) HOMOSEXUALS!

The Roman Inquisition is thriving in two people. Pope Bendict XVI headed it for 25 years and replaced himself with an equally schoolmarm-ish, William Joseph Levada, Archbishop Emeritus of San Francisco.

Three Notes:

1. For some reason, the Inquisition has a bad rap, what with torture, irrationality, paranoia and all. It's the same bunch of fun-loving, heritic damning guys, but its name since 1965 has been more precisely the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
2. Levada has been associated by many with the same type of shuffling and protection of sexually abusive priests in his archdiocese as our own Bernie Law.
3. When he wore the big hat in San Francisco, there were three adoptions by same-sex couples from his social service agency.
   

As it turns out, now in his position of enforcer, Levada send email to his old Archdiocese that they have to snap to like Sean O'Malley. Let the kids languish. No adoption under any circumstances by same-sex couples, or get out of the placement biz.

Concerning the email, ''We'll be reviewing it," said archdiocese spokesman Maurice Healy. I'll bet. Disagreeing would be a lot more serious than telling your mom you don't feel like coming over for Thanksgiving.

The situation there is nearly identical to Boston's. Specifically:

• A fraction of 1% of adoptions has gone to same-sex couples.
• The kids placed were problem cases, hard to place.
• The couples were thoroughly vetted to ensure the kids' well-being, certainly better screened that straight couples.
• The states have strict non-discrimination laws that require greater fairness. In all likelihood, the Catholic Charities in both places have been pushing it in limiting the same-sex couples as much as they have to date.

So, the kids suffer. The church hierarchy gets to feel smug.

What's wrong with that paragaph? I suspect it is simply that it is a very sick perversion of what Gov. Mitt Romney calls "freedom of religion."

Spit on the law, spit on the kids, spit on a history of social service, but claim it is God's word that made you do it.