The Pillar
The Pillar Podcast
Ep. 185: The Boston logjam and cutting the noise
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Ep. 185: The Boston logjam and cutting the noise

JD unpacks the cultural myth of poisoned candy. JD and Ed debate if the new archbishop of Boston will get a red hat. Ed details a development in the Vatican financial trial and what it means for Pillar reader Cardinal Angelo Becciu. 

Ed plays a round of “Diocese and Diocese” 

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Don’t miss our next live taping of The Pillar Podcast! Join JD and Ed at the Royal Sands Social Club in Washington D.C. on Thursday, November 14th. We’ll start at 7 pm and go late. 

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This episode of The Pillar Podcast is brought to you by the Evangelical Catholic, equipping ordinary Catholics to become disciple-makers in their communities. 

Learn more at evangelicalcatholic.org/thepillar

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Discussion about this episode

No, someone in Texas around the same time as the Tylenol in the Chicago area gave out poisoned candy. Maybe Houston.

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The idea of Sean Cardinal O'Malley also being a MMA fighter is hilarious and I appreciate how quickly Ed. asserted that it was the same person. Traditional clerical garb seems like it would be a liability, so he'd have to go with a clerical compression long sleeved shirt and long pants. Anything else would be unbecoming of a prince of the Church.

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Fun Fact: There's actually three Springfield dioceses in the USA: the Diocese of Springfield (in Massachusetts), the Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau (in Missouri), and the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois. I used to work in the latter and we'd sometimes get mail/phone calls/etc. for the others.

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I always thought this story was the origin of the Halloween candy paranoia: https://people.com/candy-man-killer-timothy-obryan-murder-8732896

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"No Pope would have used his power like Francis has!"

I offer for your consideration, Pope Julius II.

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Jumping straight to the important part, the archdiocese of Portland, Oregon can certainly also provide you with surfing and Dungeness crab, which I submit easily outranks 🦞

(the city is inland, but the diocese includes the whole coast)

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I realize this was a minor point in the podcast, but hearing that Cardinal Wuerl is still trying to influence the Vatican is galling. He is the opposite of Archbishop Henning’s homily as you both describe it, and the fact that he was the major force behind rewriting the religion curriculum at Catholic high schools across the country is shameful. The curriculum — not just as written, but as he wanted it strictly implemented — turned teaching the faith from something dynamic and alive and inseparable from the rest of life into something dead and compartmentalized from the rest of life. The negative impact of his influence is going to be felt for a very long time.

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Who pays his monthly airfare to Rome?

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BTW, per Luke’s Starting Seven - Today’s Bollettino - for 25 October 2024, Cdl Wuerl had another meeting with Francis. One possibility is he is lobbying for the successor to 75-yr old Bishop David Zubik for Pittsburgh…. Who knows.. he makes no effort to keep in touch with the apostolic administrator who succeeded him for Pittsburgh. Seems like someone is funding him to be the US church’s “international man of mystery”?? 🤷‍♂️

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Jimmy Akin has a terrific podcast episode all about the Tylenol murders: https://sqpn.com/2024/01/1982-chicago-tylenol-murders/

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What was the last answer in the game?

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