[Incorrigible]

Don't know what to make of this.  The press obviously doesn't have much creditability and I imagine there always some parishioners that will be upset with whoever is/was in charge.

[Incorrigible]

Bump

[Snuffington]

It's too bad, but it's the right thing to do.

Myers was terrific at reintroducing orthodoxy to the Peoria diocese. I lived there under his predecessor and during the early part of Myers' run there. There was a LOT of heterodoxy going on when Myers came in. He spent most of his time and energy combatting it, and making Peoria one of the most orthodox dioceses in the Midwest.

That being said, this commitee isn't about orthodoxy. t's about properly disciplining priests in specific and notorious circumstances. I don't know all the details, but circumstantially it does appear that he neglected his duty to properly discipline the seven priests in question. Since the thrust of this commitee is to devise policies for properly dealing with situations like Jenkins found when Myers left, Myers would be better served learning from the commitee rather than directing it.

[ELS]

I don't know much about the situation in the Peoria diocese under Myers' term, but having said that, I don't trust McBrien. It's pretty clear that McBrien doesn't agree with Myers (and the Magisterium) on Church teachings. "some parishioners said Myers had left the problem for Jenky" Who are these parishioners? Why do they think Myers left the problem for is successor? Why aren't they willing to back up what they say by giving their names? It sounds like a common tactic used by TV "reporters" - "some say..."

I think Myers has removed some priests from duty in the Newark archdiocese. I don't hear him whining that McCarrick left a mess for him to clean up. Sheesh.

[AlguyA]

"John Myers left a very messy situation in Peoria," McBrien added.

THIS IS A LIE!

Sorry to be so blunt, but I live in the Diocese of Peoria and Archbishop Myers is one of the best men, one of the most well-formed priests, I've ever had the pleasure to meet.

Let's just start with the numbers. Seven. Seven priests out of somewhere around two hundred priests. Moreover, a couple of the priests had already retired, several face accusations stemming from long ago(a decade) before Myers took over, and, I believe, of those who face charges stemming from the time frame of Myers tenure, most, if not all, had already been removed from positions involving children. Fianlly, one of the seven I know faces accusations stemming from a relationship with an adult woman.

But seven? There's been probably around four hundred priests who have served in the Diocese the last forty years. Seven would represent less than 2%. Not perfect, but a heck of alot better than most dioceses I would wager.

Archbishop John Myers is a good and holy man. Perhaps that's why someone like McBrien feels compelled to lie about him.

And I haven't even touched on all the good things he's done for our Diocese such as dramatically increasing vocations, standing firm against heterodoxy, etc.

May God always bless him and may all our Dioceses be similarly blessed.

[Desdemona]

Ping

[thedilg]

It seems to me that a serious situation existed around this Bishop. At least this is tha case if he, indeed, left 7 offending priests within his authority to be dealt with by his predessessor.

The major scandal is that Bishops look the other way when a priest is caught in a sexual entanglement with a young boy. Until this problem is fully addressed the confidence of the Catholic people will not return.

Godspeed, The Dilg

[Desdemona]

Something's not right. If McBrien is out in front, there's something else going on. I don't trust him.

[yendu bwam]

Can't we have a good bishop in northern New Jersey? The ones I am familiar with are all those who place the welfare of children dead last on their list of priorities. To do so is a form of evil.

[Cicero]

This article is almost entirely disinformation. Father McBrien is the premier dissident theologian in the country, since Fr. Curran was finally given the boot. He is a favorite interviewee and guest writer for the New York Times.

Bishop Myers is a conservative Catholic, who made Peoria famous for its fidelity to the Magisterium.

If there was a sex problem among the priests in Peoria, one can only assume that Bishop Myers inherited it and was unable to clean it up as promptly as one might wish.

As for the panel he is leaving, there are major flaws in what the Bishops enacted in Dallas. Rome is unlikely to approve what they decided there, because it was mostly done for PR purposes, does not accord with basic Christian or Catholic principles, and basically amounted to shirking their responsibility as bishops to teach the Word of God.

Fr. Neuhaus has an excellent piece on this whole business in the latest issue of First Things, which will appear on their web site in due course. In the meantime, I would only caution that this entire article is upside down. It calls black white, and white black, in the best PC fashion.

[ninenot]

First signal: quotation from McCormack. Reliable bad guy, anti-Catholic as can be, while drawing a salary from the Church (Notre Dame.)

Thus, the thesis of the story is likely wrong.

As to why Myers left, how about the possibility that the policy and the Commish will be shot down by Rome?

[ninenot]

CORRECTION: McCormack SHOULD BE McBrien. Hard to tell them apart at this distance.

[SMEDLEYBUTLER]

the Rev. Richard McBrien, a University of Notre Dame theology professor

Why do reporters, with rare exceptions, leave out the word heretic when describing McBrien.

[saradippity]

If the press were into reporting truth they would have had to say;"McBrien,an insider in the guerilla movement,buried deep within the Church in the U.S.,says 'Bishop Myers left a mess in Peoria'.Parishioners on his team in the diocese,who are most often members of Call To Action,Wymyn's Church,We Are Church,Dignity and Catholics For Free Choice,agree with McBrien."

[maryz]

It was previously announced that Auxiliary Bishop A. James Quinn of Cleveland and Bishop John McCormack of Manchester, N.H., would leave the panel.

I don't remember seeing before that McCormack was on the panel! Who would have put him there???

According to the article, "Cleveland and New Hampshire also have undergone extensive investigations of sex abuse," but I'm afraid McCormack's real claim to fame is his former role as personnel director for clergy in the Archdiocese of Boston. He seems to have had an especially cordial relationship with Shanley.

[John O]

"But when we're in the kind of crisis we're in, you have to bend over backwards to make sure that everybody who is representing the church - and in this case the bishops - is carrying no baggage whatsoever.

Of course these days you certainly don't want to bend over forwards when there's a priest around

[Yes, I know that there are non-SAD priests, but why take chances that the one near you is not a sexual deviant?]

God Save America (Please)

[ELS]

Bishop Urges Catholics to Fight Back When Media Go Too Far on Scandal

PEORIA, Ill. (CNS) -- After months of negative publicity, it is time for Catholics to fight back against distorted media portrayals of a scandal-ridden church, Bishop Daniel R. Jenky of Peoria told diocesan priests at a gathering Sept. 18. Speaking at the conclusion of the annual Priests Assembly Day in Peoria, Bishop Jenky said the time had come for Catholics to be more "militant" in calling attention to the good the church does and the many faithful priests, religious, and lay people who serve it. He voiced strong objections to the way he and his predecessor in Peoria -- Archbishop John J. Myers, now of Newark, N.J. -- have been portrayed in the secular media regarding their handling of clergy sex abuse cases, and assured the priests of the diocese of his prayer and concern for them. Since late spring, eight priests of the Peoria Diocese have been asked to step down from public ministry after allegations of sexual abuse that were deemed credible. The annual daylong educational gathering drew 135 priests and was primarily devoted to the topic of spiritual direction.