BOSTON, July 3, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Bishop Sean O'Malley, only recently appointed to a Florida diocese, has been placed by Pope John Paul II as the bishop of the Archdiocese of Boston. A Vatican official told Catholic News Service that the move demonstrated both the seriousness of the problems in the Boston diocese - the epicentre of the sexual abuse scandal - and the confidence the Vatican places in Bishop O'Malley.
O'Malley, a Capuchian friar, was described by the Vatican official as "a man of great spirituality."
Archbishop-elect O'Malley delivered a strong pro-life statement when appointed to the Palm Beach diocese last year. In that reflection he said: "I will not vote for any politician who will promote abortion or the culture of death, no matter how appealing the rest of his or her program might be. They are wolves in sheep's garments, the K.K.K. without the sheets, and sadly enough, they don't even know it."
He acknowledged, 'I am Irish enough to understand that the tribal allegiances that bound us to the Democratic Party are very strong and in our not-too-distant past, quite understandable." However, he warned, "If I were ever tempted to vote for simply selfish reasons, tribal allegiances, or economic advantages rather than on the moral direction of the country, I should beat a hasty retreat from the curtain of the polling booth to the curtain of the confessional."
Yes he is a good pick. An organization such as the vatican has got to realize when it's time to clean house, the time for that is now.
This guy sounds like a winner. If the church gets back to basics - spirit, love, morality etc. things will turn around. Just as any other time in history, the church must put Jesus first, the establishment second.
I've done some religion shopping, but haven't been able to find another church that can make the nexus to the "rock of Peter" the way the Catholic church can. I went to a mass last week that was just wonderful and elightening. The priest was on fire, evangelistic ......rebellious even. His sermon brought tears to my eyes.
When when we combine everything that's good about the church with true spirituality it's a beautiful thing and an instrument of God that is second to none on earth.
If he talks like that, Archbishop-elect O'Malley has the support of this this Protestant!
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/daily/07-03/07-06-03/a01lo007.htm O'Malley offers an obvious change
By STEVE URBON, Standard-Times senior correspondent
"Nothing in my experience has prepared me for my next job," Bishop Sean P. O'Malley told The Standard-Times in an interview late last year.
On the eve of taking over as leader of the Palm Beach Diocese in Florida, he was talking about a religious life that veered sharply from his expectations of working with the poor in Third World countries but instead brought him back to the United States.
What he said might still be true, since perhaps no one can possibly be prepared to take over the profoundly troubled Archdiocese of Boston.
Yet even last year it was the consensus among many Catholics and church-watchers in America that Bishop Sean, as he likes to be called, was perhaps uniquely prepared and qualified to step in to repair the damage to the Catholic Church caused by the sexual abuse scandal that erupted in the past year and a half.
He did, after all, resolve the sexual abuse scandal in the next-door Fall River Diocese a full decade before the church nationally would seriously address the problem. And he did it while keeping the business end of the diocese upright and on course.
If it is true that the healer for Boston needs to be someone utterly unlike Cardinal Bernard Law, who ultimately resigned his post without settling the hundreds of sexual abuse claims against the archdiocese, one would have difficulty finding a clearer choice than Bishop O'Malley.
His manner, rather than aloof and magisterial, is warm and personal. His preferred style of dress, a coarse brown robe and sandals, is utterly modest, reflecting his Franciscan vow of poverty. He speaks four languages fluently, and frequently does so in public. And his bureaucratic duties take a back seat to getting out and meeting the people who make up the church and letting them get to know him face-to-face.
Modest moments
Even before his official arrival in Boston, which takes place July 30, he has begun to shed the trappings and fanfare of one of the most prestigious Catholic posts in America, if not the world.
He has already given instructions that he wants his installation to be a relatively low-key affair, without the pomp and the banquets and the elaborate receptions. Just as he did when he settled in Palm Beach just nine months ago, Bishop O'Malley is likely to shun the official residence with its vast space and elaborate furnishings, and instead repair to much more modest quarters.
The archbishop's official residence on Lake Street in Boston, along with other prime church real estate in one of the hottest markets in the world, is a prime target for divestiture by the new archbishop, since it would pay the settlements and fit squarely with Bishop O'Malley's personal philosophy of life and his view of the mission of the church.
It is he, after all, who somehow managed to lead the rebuilding of the hurricane-ravaged Diocese of the Virgin Islands prior to coming to Fall River -- and he did it on an annual budget of $30,000.
It is he, after all, who told a friend that "God will provide," even as then-Rev. Sean O'Malley slept on the floor in a Washington, D.C. apartment with an empty refrigerator. When the friend broke down and bought him groceries, the young Rev. O'Malley told him, "See? God did provide."
Last December, Bishop O'Malley also said the new bishop of Boston would do well to curb the political hob-nobbing and attend to the needs of the neediest in the archdiocese. "It's necessary for the church to make its voice heard in public forum," he said. "But the preferential option needs to be to work for the marginalized and the poor."
He has already begun that process, taking a large portion of time on a brief visit last Tuesday to meet with victims of clergy sexual abuse in Boston, just as he had done a decade earlier in Fall River.
It was a gesture that immediately produced optimistic responses from the church's critics, although the deepest skeptics remain unconvinced.
There is also the question of money and the financial calamity in Boston, where the victim settlement claims are mounting and donations to the church are shrinking fast. For Bishop O'Malley, the question of money is, at best, secondary. It always has been.
Church conservative
Bishop O'Malley, if he remains true to his legacy in Fall River, also will spend a great deal of his time in the parishes of the archdiocese, getting to know the flock and letting them get to know him.
What they will find is a bishop (perhaps soon to be elevated to cardinal, as is church tradition) who is extremely soft-spoken, self-deprecating with his humor, and quite conservative in his religious views, the latter being perhaps the closest of all parallels that can be made with Cardinal Law.
It was that religious conservatism and Bishop O'Malley's reputation for effective "networking" within the Catholic hierarchy in the United States that convinced many observers that he was at the head of the list for Boston, despite the lateral move to Palm Beach.
What with the secrecy that surrounds the Vatican's selection process, it is hard to know exactly what drove the decision. But the opinions of the laity might have had something to do with it. "One part of the process of selecting bishops is supposed to include consultations with laity in the diocese," he said in his interview with The Standard-Times. "Certainly, that needs to be done. And it hasn't been used as much as it should be," he said.
The bishop cautioned, however, that the church is still not a democracy. "I personally would be against turning the selection into some kind of electoral process. That would turn the process in a way that would not be healthy for the church," he said, giving a glimpse into his view of the church's traditions.
Strong choices
While in Fall River, Bishop O'Malley did demonstrate a determination to make important decisions despite sometimes fierce opposition from the faithful.
Nowhere was that more evident than in his decisions to close or consolidate parishes, some of which were dearly held by certain ethnic groups that were dwindling in number, particularly in Fall River and New Bedford.
In addition, there are those who continue to question Bishop O'Malley's decision-making regarding Sister Michaelina Plante, who was dismissed from her education leadership post at diocesan headquarters early in Bishop O'Malley's tenure. Bishop O'Malley has not spoken on the subject, despite a series of lawsuits seeking to have him deposed in the matter.
Bishop O'Malley is also a staunch defender of Pope John Paul II's views regarding the church, against critics who want to see such things as ordained women or married priests.
Bishop O'Malley doesn't share the views of those who believe that lifting the celibacy requirement would improve the abuse situation. And he said he believes that the pope is often criticized because of his orthodox views of church teachings.
"Certainly, he's a man who has been very strong in defending the doctrines in the church, all of them. So often, conservative Catholics are very enthused about some of the moral teachings and less about the social gospel of the church. Liberal Catholics come down on the opposite side of those aspects," Bishop O'Malley said.
On celibacy, he said, "Certainly in this whole area, the church needs to do a better job preparing people to live a celibate life and also to help Catholic people understand what it is.
"However, I think it's unfair to lay the church clerical abuse problem at the door of celibacy. In most of the studies I've seen, the percentage of problems of sexual abuse are lower in the church than they are in the general public," he said.
"Unfortunately, the statistics are on what's been taking place in last 50 years. It gives the impression that there's a rampant problem now. The seminaries have been doing a much better job in the last 20 to 30 years screening and weeding out," he said.
People first
As far as the central issue facing the Boston Archdiocese, Bishop O'Malley is certain that the issue is not money, but honesty and faith.
"To me, in every case, the people are much more important than money. People need to be reassured that the church is going to do the best we can for people who need to be indemnified for sexual abuse. At the same time, there is a need for the mission of the church to go on, to move on with other obligations to the poor and social services.
"I think that the task that needs to be done in Boston is to rebuild the credibility of the church to lead people to spiritual renewal," he said. "I hesitate to just jump in and say dealing with the financial crisis is most important.
"The spiritual crisis has to be dealt with. That will take care of other problems, which will solve themselves. If we're not helping people seek Christ in the church, it won't matter how many checks they get from the heavy hitters," he said.
"The church's mission is not just to be a social service agency, but to be a discipleship," he said.
The eyes of the nation are now upon him as he sets out to demonstrate just what that means.
This man sounds like a perfect fit for the job. Imagine, a humble cardinal who dresses in brown robes and sandals and actually thinks people are more important than money!
I remember reading about him a few years ago (?) when he was in Fall River, and thinking, he sounds like a good man, a good religious man.
Thanks for the offer. Put me on I gladly eccept.
Godspeed, The Dilg
