Lest you thought the wafer watch was over

New York's Cardinal Egan thought he had a deal with Rudy Giuliani that he'd never take Communion in his archdiocese. And then America's pro-choice former mayor went ahead and did so at St. Pat's, with His Holiness himself a few steps away. Nine days later, Egan fired his blast from the archdiocesan website. Giuliani, tracked down by the Daily News outside his East Side apartment, said, "It's a personal religious matter....I never comment on those. It's such a personal matter." Egan declared he would be "seeking a meeting" with Giulianii "to insist that he abide by our understanding.” Oh, to be a fly on the wall at that audience!

Actually, I rather doubt that the soon-to-retire Egan will be seeking too hard. As James Barron makes clear in his New York Times story, what moved that prince of the church to action was a column by no less consequential a keeper of the faith than the recently converted Robert Novak--along with assorted other woofing by Catholic conservatives. The Vatican itself didn't seem particularly perturbed at Giuliani's having done what he did. But by calling public attention to it, Novak et al. turned it into a scandal. Lest the failful be weakened in their faith thereby, the cardinal archbishop must speak...ah, post...up.