Thomas Rowan, Former Standard Editor - Requiscat In Pace

From this week's Catholic Standard I learned that Tom Rowan, former editor of the Catholic Standard (he preceded Mark Zimmerman) passed away last Sunday.  He retired from the Standard in 1991 - approximately 23 years ago.  Zimmerman extolled the praises of Rowan.  It is a rare occasion when I agree with Zimmerman, but this is one such occasion.  Perhaps Zimmerman can learn a bit if he rereads his own words.

Zimmerman rightly points out that Rowan had no bones about "fearlessly taking on a cast of villains that included the ACLU, Washington Post, Catholic pro-abortion politicians" and "lambasting rogue theologians".  Indeed I remember some of those columns; he wasn't afraid to speak the truth.  He wasn't afraid to hear it either, as the Standard featured a "letters to the editor" column.  Sadly, that important component of journalistic professionalism seemed to have disappeared when he left the Standard.

Soon after Rowan's retirement, Cardinal Hickey retired and then-Archbishop McCarrick took the helm at the Archdiocese of Washington.  Far from being one to "lambast rogue theologians", McCarrick openly rubbed elbows and struck hands with them, going so far as to sign the Land O' Lakes Statement that openly welcomed heresy on Catholic college campuses in the US.  As far as CINO pro-abortion politicians and others go?  As this post states, I've led numerous pickets of events where Cardinal McCarrick honored Ted Kennedy, John Sweeney, etc.

Then of course there's the disappearance of the Standard's "letters to the editor" column.  It happened at the time Cardinal McCarrick made known his disdain for Canon 915.  I have it on inside information that the decision to halt the column was made in reaction to the hundreds, if not thousands, of angry letters pouring in to denounce the Cardinal's position; mine was one of them.  That cessation of the "letters to the editor" column was a key impetus to the start of this blog.

As I ponder Mr. Rowan's passing, I wonder if he would have stood still for such muzzling of truth at the newspaper to which he devoted 40 years of his life had he not retired.  Whatever, much integrity of the Standard left with him.