Jr. Roman Catholic Cardinal John O'Connor has had enough. Angry that Major League Baseball opened its 1998 season with games on Good Friday, the archbishop of New York announced he would not attend any Mets or Yankees games during the year, though he is well known as a fan of both teams. Major League Baseball was unmoved. But if taking on Major League Baseball in the Big Apple was not controversial enough, the archbishop earlier decided to take on a really powerful institution - Little League Baseball. Sports are generally considered good for kids.
Church is good for kids.
If the games conflict with Sunday worship, so much worse for the church. Taken as a portrait of post modern America, this squabble reveals a great deal. The secularization the archbishop blamed for a decline in Sunday observance has eroded his authority as well. Americans treat Sundays like any other day, though for many work takes a back seat to leisure activities. Sociologists have traced the demotion of Sunday and the decline of worship attendance for years and have offered a variety of explanations.