Posted on 06/18/2003 9:36:12 AM PDT by MeneMeneTekelUpharsin
PHOENIX (AP) - Bishop Thomas O'Brien, who has admitted he concealed sex abuse allegations against priests and now has been charged in a fatal hit-and-run accident, resigned Wednesday. The Vatican appointed Santa Fe, N.M., Archbishop Michael Sheehan as interim administrator of the diocese. As apostolic administrator, Sheehan has been granted full authority over the Diocese of Phoenix until the Vatican appoints a new bishop, the Santa Fe archdiocese said. He also will remain archbishop of New Mexico's largest diocese. In a two-line announcement Wednesday, the Vatican said Pope John Paul II accepted O'Brien's resignation as the spiritual leader of Arizona's 430,000 Catholics under a clause of church law allowing a cleric to resign for illness or "some other grave reason" that makes him "unsuited for the fulfillment of his office." It did not specify why O'Brien offered to resign.
Diocese spokeswoman Kim Sue Lia Perkes said it was a sad day in the diocese. "This was a very difficult decision," she said. "The bishop felt strongly that it's important the focus return to the good work of the church." O'Brien, 67, was charged Tuesday with leaving the scene of a fatal accident after police investigating a weekend hit-and-run traced a license plate number to the bishop's car and found the windshield caved in. O'Brien told authorities he had a small amount of sacramental wine in a church service before the accident, but there was no indication that he was impaired, Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley said. A pedestrian, Jim Reed, was killed. Reed, who was 6 feet tall and weighed at least 235 pounds, was crossing the street on his way to get a bus to go home when he was hit. Authorities said he was jaywalking. The bishop told police he thought he had hit a dog or a cat or that someone had thrown a rock at his vehicle. The bishop didn't report the accident, but prosecutors say he attempted to have his windshield fixed.
He could be sentenced to anything from probation to less than four years in prison if he is convicted of the felony. A friend, Stan Crisher, said Reed was easygoing. "He liked to joke, pull a little prank sometimes, always had a smile on his face," Crisher said. "It's just a loss," Crisher said. "It's very difficult to comprehend." The new diocese administrator, Sheehan, said in a statement that his heart goes out to the clergy and Phoenix's Catholic community. "You have suffered greatly these last few months," he said. "I hope to bring healing. God's grace will help us through this challenging time." Sheehan was traveling to Phoenix on Wednesday, said Celine Radigan, a spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Santa Fe. She said it was not immediately clear how long Sheehan would stay. Sheehan, 63, has been in the position of cleaning up following a church scandal before. He was summoned to Santa Fe from Lubbock, Texas, in 1993 following a wave of clerical sexual misconduct cases. The church ultimately settled more than 200 claims against Santa Fe priests for about $25 million.
"I had to remove over 20 priests from the ministry, and we never put them back into any kind of service," Sheehan told The Associated Press earlier this year. "My policy here is zero tolerance." Prosecutors said the charge against O'Brien wouldn't affect a landmark agreement announced two weeks ago in which the bishop relinquished some of his authority, sparing him from obstruction charges for protecting priests accused of child molestation. O'Brien admitted he allowed priests to work with minors after he knew of sexual misconduct allegations against them, and that he transferred them to ministries without telling their new supervisors. He has denied committing any crimes and has apologized for any "misconduct, hardship or harm" caused to victims by priests in the diocese. Under the deal with Romley, O'Brien agreed, among other things, to appoint the equivalent of a chief of staff to supervise the enforcement of the church's sexual misconduct policies. Romley said O'Brien's resignation "will provide an opportunity for the Catholic Church to move beyond this."
"Of course, I'll have to continue on with my proceedings. But I think the church can move beyond it," he told NBC's "Today." Romley also said investigators were trying to create a better picture of what happened before and after the accident, including investigating whether O'Brien was impaired. If it was determined that O'Brien was driving impaired, that could possibly lead to other charges, such as manslaughter. On Tuesday night, O'Brien's nephew, Jim Dearing, read a statement in front of the bishop's house expressing sympathy for Reed's family. "We are so sorry for their pain and loss," the statement said. "This is a horrible tragedy for everyone - the Reed family, our family, the bishop and the entire Catholic community." Paul Pfaffenberger, organizer of the Phoenix chapter of the Survivors' Network of Those Abused by Priests, said O'Brien's response to both the sexual abuse allegations and hit-and-run case demonstrate his refusal to accept responsibility. "His decision with sexual abuse was to discredit, deny or run away from victims and to protect his priests," Pfaffenberger said. "Unfortunately, faced with a traffic accident, he once again ignored the victim and drove away."
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