PopeWatch: Cupich

Interesting:

In 2017, Cupich lost an election for chair of the conference’s important pro-life committee by only 14 votes. Some observers suggested that the cardinal was building a coalition of bishops who would support him in an eventual bid for leadership of the conference, and that his showing in that committee race, even while he didn’t win, was evidence of a conference divided between bishops of different worldviews, points of emphasis, or theological approaches. 

But less than four years later, that suggestion no longer seems to hold. When the cardinal would seem most to need public signs of support from his brother bishops, he has not yet found any.

Of course, there is a perception that even if Cupich is unpopular among his brother bishops in the U.S., he is well-liked in Rome and a favorite of Pope Francis. There is some evidence that is true, including the oft-repeated story that Cupich was personally chosen by Francis for the Archdiocese of Chicago, and was not on the candidate list prepared in the ordinary process.

This week, numerous bishops have speculated to The Pillar that Cupich’s frustration was a critical factor in the Holy See’s decision to intervene before Gomez’ statement was released, with an attempt first to shelve it, and then to delay it. 

But if Cupich is the cause of the Holy See’s intervention, his stock in Rome has likely declined after the embarrassment of public reporting about the intervention, and then the statement’s eventual release. If Cupich was relying on favor in Rome to exercise influence in the U.S. bishops’ conference — as he is believed to have done in the wake of the McCarrick scandal — it seems that after this week, he will have fewer chips to play, at the time he needs them most. 

When Cardinal Cupich took out his phone Wednesday, and decided to challenge openly the bishops’ conference president, he may have thought it the moment at which to take a stand. But before posting the tweet thread he might now regret, he may not have expected to find himself standing alone.

Go here to read the rest.  In politics, and ecclesiastical machinations are most definitely politics, never underestimate the jerk factor.  Someone may have a fistful of political aces and still be ineffective at getting what they want, simply due to the fact that they are jerks who alienate others.  Throughout his career Cupich has specialized in making enemies rather than friends.