Cardinal George.

I was very disappointed that Cardinal Francis George declined a direct interview with Peter Feuerherd ("Chicago's Cardinal," January 16, 2004), since George seems to be a key figure among thoughtful Catholic conservatives. My sympathies to Feuerherd, who had to rely on his own observations, his correspondence, and second-hand accounts.

Feuerherd might have offered, along with George's much-quoted condemnation of liberal Catholicism, George's less quoted (and milder) criticism of a conservative Catholicism, "so sectarian that it cannot serve as a sign of the unity of all people in Christ." George seems to be pointing the church in the direction of some sort of "reformed" conservatism, and I would like to know more about what that might look like.

George has not been afraid to distance himself from political conservatives who do not espouse the socialjustice teachings of the church. In this, I think he should be lauded for depoliticizing Catholicism and preventing it from identifying strongly with one major party. I further suspect that George shares the quandary of liberal Catholics in the voting booth--how to select the candidate that best embodies one's worldview, when all of them seem badly lacking in some critical way.

What I find troubling about Feuerherd's story is the dismissal of Gabe Huck. George's motivations for the sack aren't very clear. The incident hints at vindictiveness, a quality many liberals and moderates suspect conservatives of harboring. But vindictiveness doesn't seem consistent with George's brand of conservatism. One wishes for a fuller account of the story.

JEAN RABER

Ovid, Mich.