When I posted yesterday about my experience after I had shared the news of Bishop Cordileone's arrest at my Facebook page, I didn't realize that two fellow bloggers whom I very much esteem had also posted about this same story, in ways that my own posting echoed--without realizing it. (I tend to read what I think of as "news blogs" daily to catch up on the news, but I read "commentary blogs" less frequently.)
Several days ago at Enlightened Catholicism, Colleen Baker explores the notion of karma and Cordileone's arrest. Colleen proposes that Cordileone might profitably regard what has just happened to him as a divine invitation to reflect on humility. And she writes,
Wow, I guess he is no longer qualified to take the high moral road when he takes over in San Francisco. Who says there is no cosmic justice? Not I. Not that stupid.
And at his Faith in the 21st Century site, Thom Curnutte reports experiences eerily like those I reported here yesterday: Thom notes that after he had posted a link to the story of Cordileone's arrest, a number of folks who dog his steps at Faith in the 21st Century leapt on him with accusations that he was "gloating" about the arrest and engaging in Schadenfreude.
I've just left Thom a note to encourage him to be of good cheer. As I tell him, the charge that some fellow Catholics are guilty of Schadenfreude when they discuss the downfall of iconic (and idolized) figures of the Catholic right has become a glib, predictable reflex response that's all about shutting down necessary critical conversations--on this, see my posting in Feb. 2011 about the Father Euteneuer story and Schadenfreude.
The right-wing Catholics slamming Thom (and me) would jump on Moses and Miriam for singing with joy about Pharaoh's overthrow, after they crossed the Red Sea. Such unseemly Schadenfreude.
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