On Nagin, Pope Benedict and Planned Parenthood

What are your thoughts on the bribery conviction of former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin?
It certainly is a personal tragedy for our former mayor and for his family. For our city and for our world, it’s always heartbreaking and tragic when someone entrusted with the good of the community, for whatever reason, uses that public service for his own profit. That’s true whether it’s a leader in city, state or federal government or a leader in the business world or even the church. It’s important that we not try to excuse it but rather face the reality. If we are involved personally, we should ask for forgiveness. If we are spectators, we should pray that the person will be able to face the reality of what he has done and ask for God’s mercy.

Could it be a good sign that the public is growing weary of public corruption?
Transparency is always important. Whenever we’re able to uncover these things, it does two things: It brings about justice for the person involved, but it also reminds the rest of us – and perhaps helps to inform our consciences – that wrongdoing and taking advantage of others can never be justified. We all do things sometimes where we might say, “Well, I won’t get caught,” but often we do get caught. Even if we don’t, God can read our hearts and attitudes. Being from New Orleans, I’m well aware of the reputation we have in Louisiana for corruption in government, but having lived in another state for nine years, I think I saw an almost equal amount of corruption there. So it’s important that we’re not too condemnatory of ourselves. The bigger issue is that people are prone to wrongdoing and to dishonesty, and that’s unfortunate.

On another subject, we recently marked the anniversary of Pope Benedict’s resignation of the papacy. What’s your perspective on the last year?
In order to truly put this into perspective, I would say that what Pope Benedict did was revolutionary, and what Pope Francis is doing is also revolutionary. To think that Pope Benedict, in a spirit of humility, was the first pope to resign in nearly 600 years is truly amazing. We should have great admiration for him. He got to a point in his life and in his ministry when he felt he was not able to carry on the office of St. Peter in our church. Instead of just continuing on in what perhaps could have become a mediocre way, through prayer he had the courage to say that he believed the Lord was calling him to give this responsibility to someone else. That takes a tremendous amount of courage. It’s revolutionary, and he should be honored for that. He’s become somewhat invisible. He was not at all involved in any of the meetings before the conclave, and he was not involved in the conclave itself. He watched the election and the installation on TV. He really has shown incredible humility and has not in any way interfered with what Pope Francis believes is his mission. He is a humble man and he wants what’s best and needed for the church. It’s quite evident that in his papacy – and even now – that Pope Benedict was not in this for himself or for power, prestige or honor. He did it because he was the servant of the servants of God.

What about Pope Francis?
So many people are talking about the “Francis Effect” on the world – and he has had an effect. Pope Francis is very comfortable with who he is as a person, knowing that he’s loved and inspired by God. I think he sees himself in a prophetic role of preserving and maintaining the teachings of the church but teaching those in a new and different way. He has an ability – and this is a gift which I don’t think he did anything to develop – to say things and relate to people at a grassroots level. Just the other day, he was telling engaged couples: “After ‘I do,’ comes ‘May I, thank you and I’m sorry.’” In just a few words, he summed up the forgiveness needed in a vocation to marriage. He is a wonderful communicator and pastor.

On another topic, your Feb. 1 letter cautioning Catholics to have nothing to do with the preparation or construction of the proposed Planned Parenthood abortion facility is making national news.
There has been a great deal of attention. I felt we had to speak out for two reasons: One, we have to be prophetic. We have to be bold in proclaiming the message of Christ – in this case our respect for human life, which begins at conception in the womb through natural death. People have said we were courageous. I appreciate those sentiments, but I think of the parable in the Gospel where the servant is praised for his stewardship, and he says, “I’ve done no more than my duty.” I truly feel in this case, I’ve done no more than my duty, and I did it with honesty and integrity. When something is happening in the world that is not in line with the teachings of Christ and the teachings of the church, it is our duty to speak out in a passionate way but also with compassion, not judging others but calling others to conversion. Secondly, I saw it as a teachable moment. A lot of people today make a distinction between their faith life and their everyday lives and decisions. The two cannot be separated. The business decisions that I make and that others make are supposed to be rooted in faith. One or two people told me, “Well, it’s just a business deal.” In this case, the business deal enables the taking of unborn human life, which is not of God. We are called to realize that by enabling this building to be constructed or by supporting it in any way, we participate in the work that takes place there – for generations to come. I’ve been truly edified by the number of people who have responded to our stance in a positive way. The response has been overwhelmingly positive. I’ve received two phone calls that have been negative – that basically said, “Mind your own business and don’t tell us how to live our lives.” But I hear that with regularity. No one likes to be told that, but we must proclaim the message of God.