At long last.

The Ecclesia Dei indult is being granted in Detroit.

Remove about 55% of the snark in the CruxNews report, and you have an accurate depiction of the issue. The vocations picture is accurate for 2007, but it's a snapshot only--last year there were seven ordinations. No, hardly "good," but better than a certain West Coast diocese more than three times its size. Sacred Heart Seminary is a much, much better place than it was fifteen years ago, both in terms of faculty, curriculum and number of seminary students. It's not the dissent-driven hellhole it used to be.

And the depiction of the growth of traditional movements is, if anything, understated. The SSPX and even sedevacantist groups have significant and growing followings. I could carp about the delay, but this is an unqualifiedly good thing--if implemented properly--e.g., the number of parishes involved, how often, do you have to play "chase the Mass", etc. Thank you, Cardinal Maida!

A timely tonic for my grim mood.

Also, make sure to check out the minutes of the Presbyteral Council meeting, too--a very illuminating, and occasionally laugh out loud funny, view of the tussle going on downtown. The funniest lines were the professed worry about "giving in to pressure groups."

I suspect the notes were truncated, and he was concerned about "giving in to pressure groups I don't like."

But the concern for "authenticity" is a good sign.