Last week, Cardinal Francis George of Chicago delivered a homily at the Catholic Theological Union in which he candidly explained why he thinks the world casts a suspicious eye on the United States. Cathleen Falsani reports:

"The world distrusts us not because we are rich and free. Many of usare not rich and some of us aren't especially free. They distrust usbecause we are deaf and blind, because too often we don't understandand make no effort to understand," he said.

"We have this cultural proclivity that says, 'We know what is bestand if we truly want to do something, whether in church or in society,no one has the right to tell us no.' That cultural proclivity, whichdefines us in many ways, has to be surrendered, or we will never bepart of God's kingdom."

Persuasive stuff. Here's a link to the full homily.