Father Mike Gleeson of St. Anthony's parish in San Gabriel, CA, (& formerly of a parish here in Ireland) is one of those activist priests who loves a trendy cause. He campaigned against nuclear weapons, he campaigned against the Iraq war and now he's helping lead a new moral crusade - against Wal-Mart.
Obviously, I don't know Fr. Gleeson, but I've met and known priests like him in the past. Generally, if it's hip and trendy to be against something, they're against it. But, if they have to take a stand in support of the faith they are charged with promoting, their support's often lukewarm at best.
{I wonder if yesterday Fr. Gleeson said anything along the lines of this letter from Bishop Loverde of Arlington, VA?}
I don't really have any problem with people who want to oppose Wal-Mart. I'm not a huge fan, but neither am I a fanatical opponent. I sometimes shop there when I'm in the US, but I also think the stores can be dirty and the products cheap.
Regardless, I don't think Wal-Mart represents a moral issue and Fr. Gleeson would do well to take a back seat in the campaign to keep Wal-Mart at bay.
One more thing. Fr. Gleeson said Wal-Mart is "the greediest corporation on Earth". Just because a company is successful does not necessarily mean it's "greedy". I would be willing to bet that some of the shop-owners who stand to lose out if Wal-Mart does open in the area are much greedier than Wal-Mart. They're just not as good at running a business.
