Did you hear Cardinal Mahony answering questions at his 2008 wRECk (Religious "Education" Congress)? You can go to
http://www.recongress.org/ to learn what he said and also to see what else went down there.
I'll mention a few things.
Asked, "Why can't girls be priests?" Cardinal Mahony replied, "For whatever reason," Jesus did not "involve women...as being priests." He also said, "Nobody knows why." Cardinal Mahony also said again, "For some reason..."
Lots of Catholics know why. Doesn't His Eminence know that saints and scholars through the ages have supplied answers?
Asked, "Why do some clerics in the Church have a problem with the faithful practicing yoga?" Cardinal Mahony answered, "Yoga is a deep meditation process, and if we keep our focus on our living and merciful love, then yoga works for anyone. Meditation in any form always deepens our love with God."
Demons can enter into people through yoga and other occult practices, and a cardinal should warn the faithful about the dangers of yoga / New Age. A cardinal could also tell Catholics about all the kinds of legitimate
Catholic meditation and to practice them instead of yoga.
Asked, "Is there high hope for married priests? What is that status on having the option?" His Eminence replied, "At this time, the Pope is not moving towards married priests for the Latin Catholic Church. Recall that the Eastern Catholic Church has had married priests for 2,000 years."
Notice that by saying, "At this time," Cardinal Mahony is implying that the current Pope or a future one would "move towards married priests."
I was glad that when asked, "What is the Archdiocese doing to combat the aggressive proselytism of local fundamentalist sects?" Cardinal Mahony said, "The best way to deal with any sect is to live out our own Catholic faith visibly and publicly. We need to be inviting and welcoming to everyone in our parish. The more outgoing we are with our Faith, the less impact the sects have."
He could also have said, though, that we need to teach the
authentic Faith to the faithful, to equip them to answer and resist the lies and errors that the sects perpetrate.