Remembering an Exceptional Man: Cardinal Francis George, by Francis X. Maier

There are a couple of choices for Catholic reading connoisseurs this week.  Option A, for those who prefer the high road in Church life, is the new book by Michael Heinlein.  Reviewed here by Archbishop Charles Chaput,  Heinlein’s Glorifying Christ is a well-researched, beautifully written, and deeply rewarding biography of Chicago’s late Cardinal Francis George.  It’s a superior portrait of an exceptional man.  More on that in a moment.  Option B, for those with a taste for the low road and a leisurely roll in an oil slick of outrage, can be found at Commonweal, here.

One of the least edifying byproducts of the current pontificate is the nastiness of its most passionate boosters; the tendency to see any critic (like a Pell or Müller), any questioning, any serious argument or resistance on matters of substance as “disloyal.”  And yet their own pattern of belligerence and refusal to listen creates the obligation to push back. …