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Strength, faith drive Cleveland's new bishop
Cleveland Plain Dealer ^ | Sunday, April 09, 2006 | David Briggs

Posted on 04/09/2006 5:26:18 AM PDT by Diago

Strength, faith drive Cleveland's new bishop

Hard decisions bring admiration, criticism
Sunday, April 09, 2006
David Briggs
Plain Dealer Religion Reporter

Arlington, Mass. -- His grandfather and his great-uncles brought blocks of stone in horse-drawn wagons to build the magnificent church on the side of a hill overlooking Massachusetts Avenue in suburban Boston.

Cleveland's next bishop grew up around the corner, and went to school and served as an altar boy at St. James the Apostle par ish. He said his first Mass there, and buried both parents from that church.

Yet today, the banner on the front of the massive edifice proclaims St. Athanasius the Great Greek Orthodox Church. Outside the old parish school, weathered hoops with broken or missing rims face the blacktop that was poured over the gravel and stone where Richard Lennon and his friends played football.

Lennon grew up to become auxiliary bishop of the Boston Archdiocese, where Cardinal Sean O'Malley gave him the thankless task of overseeing church consolidation. St. James, his beloved home parish, was among the churches closed and sold.

That he took on the job and showed no favoritism in implementing an unpopular but necessary plan is a sign of the strengths many people in the Boston area say that Lennon will bring to his new job as the 10th bishop of Cleveland.

Those who know him say the man whom Pope Benedict XVI chose last week to replace retiring Cleveland Bishop Anthony Pilla is a faithful son of the church. He is a man who did the best he could when he became the temporary replacement for Cardinal Bernard Law during the sex-abuse scandal and then being the front man for large-scale church closings.

People who worked with him say that Lennon, the son of a firefighter, will be straightforward in facing the hard realities in Cleveland, where the diocese has long postponed church closings despite a declining and aging priesthood and massive movement of parishioners from the city to the suburbs.

"He's a natural leader," said Ken Hokenson, chief development officer of the Boston Archdiocese. "He's not afraid to make the hard decisions."

Some of those decisions were too hard, say his Boston critics, who characterize Lennon as an insensitive bureaucrat too quick to put the interests of the institutional church above those of abuse victims or parishioners devastated by scores of parish closings.

But former parishioners, colleagues and friends last week described Richard Lennon as a compassionate leader, one who worked alongside firefighters rescuing trapped neighbors during the blizzard of 1978 and who bathed and dressed a dying priest friend in his final days.

And his friends say that, above all, the 59-year-old former parish priest is true to his sense of church.

"First and foremost," said the Rev. Thomas Maguire of St. Helen Church in Norwell, Mass., "he has a love for the church, for God and for the people, and it's genuine."

First parishioners

still miss him

"Lord, hear our prayer." The loud, strong reply during Thursday Mass at St. Mary of the Nativity Church in Scituate, Mass., comes after the appeal for the health and well-being of Bishop Lennon in his new job in Cleveland.

Some 24 years after he left his first parish assignment, Lennon is still treasured by the people in this coastal community about an hour south of Boston.

The Cleveland Diocese, longtime parishioner Valentine Baker said, has been "given the gift of a man who is so filled with holiness and humanity."

It was not always obvious that Lennon would enter the priesthood. His only sibling, Albert, one year behind him in school, said Richard was the "obedient" son, but also an exceptional student and an ordinary kid on the playground. When kids from the neighborhood would choose sides for football, baseball or street hockey, Richard was always in the first half of the kids picked, Albert said.

After receiving SAT scores of 1560, including a perfect 800 in math, Lennon entered Boston College as a mathematics major. In his sophomore year, he surprised his brother and his "overjoyed" parents with his decision to enter the seminary.

"He was extremely shy, very very shy, obviously brilliant. But just so faith-filled. It radiated out of every pore," Baker said of Lennon as a young priest in his first assignment.

At St. Mary, where he served from 1973 to 1982, Lennon was a Fire Department chaplain and sometimes helped out, including during the blizzard of '78 when people were trapped in their homes by floodwaters.

At the church, he energized the religious education program and started a children's choir, although Lennon is described as tone deaf. Each year, he took the altar boys to a Boston Red Sox game and the children's choir to the Ice Capades.

A dozen people interviewed outside Mass on Thursday talked about Lennon going above and beyond his duties. For Peggy Mahoney, it was a remembrance of him getting on his knees to console her child in the hospital. For another parishioner, it was Lennon seeing her mother at the bus stop and driving her where she wanted to go.

Even today, Lennon still sends personal notes and Mass cards to many parishioners on the anniversaries of the deaths of their loved ones.

"I think our heart still aches that he isn't here," said Kristen Gotter, 36, a member of the first children's choir.

Loyalty sometimes

works against him

Pictures of children whose lives were forever altered by sexual abuse line the wall of the suburban Boston offices of Bishop Accountability.org, a national organization documenting the sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church.

In going through the transcripts of cases in Boston, Anne Barrett Doyle said she became convinced that Lennon knew that some priests had abused children, but he apparently did not share that information with civil authorities or the public.

"He's a consummate order-taker," said Doyle, a co-director of the group. "You're getting a loyal son of the church who will keep their dirtiest secrets."

As interim successor to Law and the point man for parish closings, Lennon is not universally admired in Boston.

The battle against parish and school closings involved sit-ins, and at one point the creation of tent camps with the names "O'Malleyville" and "Lennonville" -- named for the bishop and the cardinal who ordered the consolidation.

But many of Lennon's colleagues say he performed admirably in near-impossible circumstances.

"This is what the church is asking of me, and therefore I do it" was Lennon's attitude, Maguire said. " If people are going to criticize me, I'm doing it for one reason only: to serve the church.' "

Church observers said that as interim administrator, Lennon, who had been a bishop only a little more than a year, had neither the time nor the power to establish the sweeping changes many people sought after Law's departure.

And, they say, playing the bad guy in the church closings was a role the cardinal assigned him.

“He’s loyal to a fault,” said the Rev. Jack Ahern of St. Mary of the Assumption Church in Brookline, Mass. “Because of that loyalty, sometimes he’s gotten bad press here.”

On Friday, during an interview in his chancery office, Lennon said it was hard to imagine the frenzy of those days in 2002, when media trucks were parked at all hours along Common´ wealth Avenue facing the chan´ cery offices.

Lennon says he attributes some of the criticism to lack of understanding.

"When all the facts come out, they will show that the abuse practices were closely guarded secrets known only by a few, Lennon said.

“I feel I did the best that I could in the situation I was in,” Lennon said. “Could I have done more? I would have had to have known more to have done more.”

Caring for a friend until the end

The Rev. Joseph Trainor was dying of cancer, and the Mary´ knoll order wanted the mission´ ary to come back to its home for aged priests.

Lennon and Ahern, who lived with Trainor at St. Mary of the Assumption, said no, they would care for their friend.

And even though Lennon went to the office as early as 5 a.m. and often worked until 10 p.m., he adjusted his schedule to care for Trainor, Ahern, the pastor of St. Mary, remembered.

"That could mean dressing him and helping him with his personal needs. In the evening, Lennon would come home for dinner at 5, then play cribbage with Trainor, putting off his own work until late.

The night before the mission´ ary priest died, the two men were at Holy Thursday Mass together.

“All that stuff comes pretty natural to him,” Ahern said. “You’re getting a great guy.”

There is another side to Rich´ ard Lennon, a friendly, jovial, compassionate side that is not always evident to the public, those who know him say.

He does take time off. Family gatherings are a priority. The bishop also likes to go to muse´ ums and watch sports on TV. He loves powdered sugar jelly doughnuts, except during Lent.

The first task he does every year is mark 100 dates on his cal´ endar, reminders to send per´ sonal notes to people on signifi´ cant anniversaries, such as the death of a parent or a sibling.

“When they lose a loved one, that pain is always there,” Lennon said. “I don’t see it as being a big deal. It’s being pastoral. It’s caring about people.”

Ready to meet challenges ahead

The 6-foot-2 Lennon smiles easily and often in his modest of´ fice as he talks about how much he looks forward to May 15, when he is scheduled to be in´ stalled as the next spiritual leader of the Cleveland Diocese.

“I feel very excited,” he said Friday. “I feel really happy.”

Lennon is heartened, he said, by what he has learned about the success of programs here such as Catholic Charities and efforts to bring adults into the church.

"While in Cleveland last week, he traveled throughout church offices trying to greet everyone he could.

There will be challenging times ahead. The Cleveland Dio´ cese is in the middle of a process called Vibrant Parish Life, that is taking a close look at how church ministries can be shared, partic´ ularly in light of fewer priests.

As other major dioceses such as Boston, Detroit, Pittsburgh and Chicago have had large-scale church closings — some more than once in recent decades as the number of priests declined and members moved to the sub´ urbs — Cleveland has avoided such cuts. While Boston, for ex´ ample, has fewer than 300 churches to care for 2 million Catholics, Cleveland has 233 par´ ishes for 800,000 Catholics, two fewer than it had in 1970.

Rather than consolidating some urban churches that have a small number of parishioners, the Cleveland diocese has kept them open. That has put pres´ sure on many suburban churches, which have only one priest to tend to thousands of families.

Lennon said it will take him a while to learn the needs of the Cleveland Diocese.

“A lot ... will depend on the situation in Cleveland,” Lennon said of possible parish closings. “What are their hopes and aspi´ rations coming out of all this?”

Catholics in Cleveland can be sure of one thing about his brother, Albert Lennon said.

“He’s 100 percent teachings of the church, church doctrine, canon law. And he’s not going to waver,” Albert said. “Those are the laws of the church. That’s it.”

His wife, Nancy, added, “When you understand that, you under´ stand Richard.”

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: dbriggs@plaind.com, 216-999-4812

© 2006 The Plain Dealer

© 2006 cleveland.com All Rights Reserved.


TOPICS: Activism; Catholic; Current Events; Ecumenism; General Discusssion
KEYWORDS:
“He’s 100 percent teachings of the church, church doctrine, canon law. And he’s not going to waver,” Albert said. “Those are the laws of the church. That’s it.”

His wife, Nancy, added, “When you understand that, you under´ stand Richard.”

Ok. Does this mean the gay pride flag will be removed from the Diocese of Cleveland website? Does this mean the national Headquarters for Futurechurch will be kicked off Diocese of Cleveland Property? Does this mean the end of the The Pilla Rite where people are forced raise their hands up in the air during Mass and stand when they should be kneeling?

1 posted on 04/09/2006 5:26:21 AM PDT by Diago
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To: Diago
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Mazzaglia: History will show the greatness of Bishop Lennon
By Frank Mazzaglia/ Columnist
Sunday, April 9, 2006

Nobody could have done it better than Bishop Richard G. Lennon! Those who know him best will tell you that Cleveland's new Bishop Lennon has a spine of steel but a gentle heart and an overwhelming love for the Church he serves.
    It was in the middle of the full-fledged sexual-abuse crisis that the Pope John Paul II accepted the resignation of Bernard Cardinal Law and simultaneously appointed Bishop Lennon as the apostolic administrator of the Boston Archdiocese. Under the glare of flashing cameras, for four grueling months it was Bishop Lennon at the helm. Fielding questions from a hostile press, and working through complicated legal matters while awaiting the selection of a permanent archbishop from the Vatican, he stood alone but firmly in charge. This is what happened next.
    On July 30, 2003, Rome announced that Bishop Sean Patrick O'Malley was the pope's choice to serve as Boston's next archbishop. As a sign of his wisdom, the new archbishop quickly recognized Bishop Lennon's value and appointed him as moderator of the Curia and Vicar General. In that role, Bishop Lennon served essentially as the chief of staff but not as the chief executive. The chief executive was the archbishop.
    Once in place, Archbishop O'Malley identified three serious problems requiring immediate attention. These included a continuing downward trend in the number of clergy, a seriously threatening financial position, and a decline in the regular attendance at Sunday Mass.
    Recognizing that the archdiocese needed radical restructuring if it was to survive, let alone meet the challenges of the future, the archbishop announced his intentions of closing more than 60 parishes throughout the archdiocese. Sixty churches! People were aghast. Surely, not their place of worship would be affected. That was unthinkable. The problem, of course, was that everybody felt the same way.
    To determine which churches should be closed, groups representing parish clusters were formed. These were made up mostly of lay people and included priests from each parish. One typical cluster included 75 lay people and a few priests. To guide their decisions, sacramental data was used. For three consecutive Sundays in October, a very accurate attendance count was taken in each parish. In addition, the number of baptisms, confirmations, weddings, and funerals were also used to determine future needs.
    While the ultimate decision would be wrenching, that sad reality was understood at the outset. Furthermore, it was made clear that if any cluster could not come to a decision, the archdiocese would make the painful decision for it. As it turned out, the difficulty was not in understanding the process but rather in accepting the final decision.
    Clearly the facts showed that without reconfiguration, there would be an insufficient number of priests to staff the churches. Still, a closed church is a painful experience for affected parishioners. Despite the best efforts to avoid trauma, the anger was anticipated.
    In his role, Bishop Lennon took the heat for simply doing the job which had been assigned for him to do. Executives everywhere can understand the position he was in. Archbishop O'Malley could be generous in reconsideration. Bishop Lennon had to stand by the decisions of the cluster groups.
    Cleveland has become the beneficiary of a Boston bishop with uncommon courage. Bishop Lennon is a scholar as well as an administrator. However, those who know him well attest to a private pastoral side that cares deeply about the nourishment of spirituality.
    History is filled with pages of great men. Detractors pale over time. In the history of the archdiocese, Bishop Richard Lennon will rank as one of the great men who stepped into a most difficult situation, who persevered, and who preserved the future by standing firm for the church when some of the most bruising decisions needed to be made.
    The Catholic Church of Cleveland is fortunate, but here in the archdiocese of Boston, Bishop Richard Lennon will be a hard act to follow.
    Frank Mazzaglia can be reached at fmazzaglia@aol.com.
    



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3 posted on 04/09/2006 5:55:59 AM PDT by Diago ("Upon hearing about such things, I confess that I'm tempted to look for my shotgun and baseball bat")
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To: Diago













Posted on Sun, Apr. 09, 2006



Boston bishop to bring experience to Cleveland
Pilla's successor widely admired at home, `doesn't play games with faith'
By Paula Schleis
Beacon Journal staff writer

BOSTON - Albert Lennon knew the day was coming when his only brother would be called to leave Boston.

I'm not going to be here much longer, he would say to prepare Albert and his wife, Nancy.

But the destination remained a mystery until last week, when Pope Benedict XVI appointed Bishop Richard Lennon as head of the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland. He will be installed May 15, replacing retiring Bishop Anthony Pilla.

``He did his work here. It's time to move on,'' Albert Lennon said from his home in the Boston suburb of Melrose, ``and Cleveland is lucky to have him.''

The diocese's 800,000 Catholics will have time to decide that.

For most of Lennon's career, he has been widely admired. Loved as a parish priest. Respected as the head of a seminary. Appreciated for his self-taught knowledge of canon law.

Then, on Dec. 13, 2002, he obediently walked into the whale's mouth.

At the age of 55, Lennon was asked to take the reins from Cardinal Bernard Law, who resigned his leadership of the 2-million member Boston Archdiocese after it became public that Law had moved predatory priests between churches.

Lennon's role was to be temporary -- no one expected the pope to keep such a young and inexperienced auxiliary bishop at the helm of the nation's fourth largest Catholic community -- but the stakes couldn't have been higher.

= [100.0]There were pending lawsuits involving more than 500 sexual abuse victims, dwindling contributions from the disenchanted faithful, and a looming financial crisis that threatened to close nearly 15 percent of the parishes.

Lennon did not come out unscathed.

Critics charged he was just too close to Law's administration to fix it. But even they acknowledge that the Bishop Lennon being sent to Northeast Ohio will not have to deal with the inherent weakness of a temporary title, or be fettered by loyalty he may have felt toward superiors.

And Lennon's experience should prove beneficial for Cleveland, where similar lawsuits are still pending and church closings may be inevitable.

``He's had to have learned a great deal by living through this,'' said James Post, co-founder of a grass-roots group in Boston that sometimes sparred with Lennon. ``It's time for him to be his own person.''

Old stomping ground

Lennon was born and raised in the Boston suburb of Arlington, a historic community that annually celebrates Paul Revere's legendary ride through its streets. Lennon's own childhood home is within sight of another house that stood during the Revolutionary War.

The Lennons weren't here then. The Irish Catholics immigrated about the time of the Civil War, and quickly became entrenched in the town.

There's a Lennon Road here, named for the bishop's great-grandfather. His uncles helped build St. James, the church and grammar school where young Richard spent his formative years. His father was deputy fire chief. And Lennon himself worked for the town during summer breaks.

Richard and Albert, a year apart in age, loved sports and daily played a pickup game of whatever was in season. But while Albert lingered with his playmates, Richard always dutifully returned home early to hit the books.

``He was brilliant,'' Albert said, noting Richard scored 1,560 on his SATs, including a perfect 800 in math.

Albert said he had no clue his brother was interested in the priesthood until Richard announced it during his second year at Boston College.

Bishop Lennon chuckles at how unperceptive his young brother was.

``Both my parents said that it didn't surprise them at all,'' Lennon said.

Although Lennon's parents had died by 1980, and Albert moved away, the bishop returns to his old stomping grounds often.

Monthly dinners with family friends, sisters Mary and Claire Bowler. Visits with his family's longtime doctor, Allan McCarthy. Debating issues with former neighbors Maureen and Tom Tierney.

``If Cleveland wants a Catholic, they're gonna get a Catholic,'' Tom Tierney said. ``He doesn't play games with his faith.''

Unforgotten footprints

It's a faith Lennon began to hone in 1968 when he entered St. John's Seminary. It was there that a lifelong problem grew from a mere embarrassment to something more.

Lennon stuttered, and, given that a priest is expected to celebrate Mass, ``it was raised as a very serious concern at the seminary whether I could be considered as a candidate,'' Lennon said.

Lennon willed himself to control the stuttering. He was ordained in 1973.

His first assignment took him to Scituate, a nearby harbor community that, by all accounts, fell in love with him.

He was the priest who would do everything from direct traffic to help a neighbor dig a trench. He started a children's choir for girls who were heartbroken that they couldn't be altar servers, and he helped firefighters rescue stranded residents during the deadly Blizzard of '78.

Nine years after arriving at St. Mary of the Nativity, Lennon was reassigned to another parish, but he's stayed in the hearts of the folks who take credit for ``training'' him.

After a recent morning Mass, 24 years since Lennon officially left Scituate, a group of parishioners talked of how they managed to pull him back repeatedly for baptisms, weddings and special masses.

It takes little coaxing to get Bishop Lennon to admit that nothing in his career has quite matched the fulfillment he had as a parish priest.

``You're involved with people's lives from birth to death. It's a privilege,'' he said.

Eventually, Lennon was returned to St. John's Seminary as its rector, charged with forming the next generation of priests. And that's where he was in 2002, when he was named apostolic administrator as Law stepped down.

Lennon searched for his own replacement at the seminary, and found the Rev. John Farren, who says Lennon has earned his admiration.

``He's a man for whom I have the highest regard,'' he said. ``... He's very disciplined in his approach. But he is still eminently accessible.''

Lennon dealt tough hand

Lennon routinely begins his day at 4:30 a.m., and is universally described as a workhorse -- the kind of guy who hobbled around for months because he couldn't find the time to schedule knee surgery.

He's a student of history, but can just as easily talk your ears off about local sports teams.

He's also direct and knows how to come to the heart of a matter quickly -- a skill the Boston diocese desperately needed.

When Lennon replaced Law, there was widespread goodwill toward him, said Post, who co-founded Voice of the Faithful, a lay organization created to support victims of priest abuse and change the system that allowed it to happen.

``People were very understanding of the fact that Bishop Lennon had been dealt a pretty tough hand,'' Post said.

But there was also skepticism. As an auxiliary bishop, Lennon had been one of the embattled cardinal's advisers.

``He's the proverbial good soldier. Throughout his career he's done things he's been asked to do by senior leaders in the church,'' Post said.

Post is convinced Lennon ``gave himself totally to the task'' of trying to settle with victims. ``If hard work can get something done, then he's capable of doing that.''

But it wasn't enough, Post said.

``There was no public persona being projected. That was a weakness in this whole process. I had hoped for more reaching out to the people,'' he said.

The now-famous ``global settlement,'' in which more than 500 victims were paid $85 million, happened after Cardinal Sean O'Malley was appointed permanent head of the archdiocese.

Dealing with new crises

Lennon stayed on as O'Malley's right-hand man and was handed new crises. Aging parishes, dwindling collections and a lack of priests necessitated the closing of 83 churches, the diocese announced in 2003.

Some parishioners suspected that the expensive lawsuits were responsible for the red ink, and that some vibrant churches were being targeted because the land was valuable.

Maybe some closings were necessary, said Peter Borre, who co-founded Council of Parishes to fight the move: ``No parish is entitled to eternal life. That is a harsh truth.''

But he was appalled at how it was handled, with churches grouped into clusters and told to decide which among them would close. ``Fratricidal warfare,'' Borre called it.

``The whole architect of the fiasco was Bishop Lennon. He took an absolutely autocratic command and control approach'' instead of ``consensus and participation.''

More than a year later, six of the churches scheduled to be closed are occupied by parishioners, who keep vigil so the buildings can't be boarded up.

Borre spends his Saturdays sneaking communion wafers to sympathetic priests who secretly consecrate them. Then he runs them around to the priestless churches, where parishioners conduct their own liturgy on Sundays.

``These aren't breakaway Catholics. These are very mainstream, profound Catholics, and this is what they've been reduced to,'' Borre said.

Evidence that Lennon ``botched'' the process, Borre said, is that the diocese decided to keep 21 of the 83 churches open after all.

``That's an error rate of 25 percent,'' Borre said, involving thousands of people who needlessly went through anguish.

``The first thing Lennon should have done was apologize for the tremendous pain he has caused,'' Borre said.

Lennon said he knows some people were hurt by his decisions.

``Sometimes people want you to say `yes' when you have to say `no,' '' he said. ``Have I mistreated someone? I'm sure I have. I regret it, but I'm sure I have.... I'm not denying a person's perception. I can't. I won't.''

Lennon didn't bring it up, but friends note that one church closed was his own childhood parish of St. James.

Tierney, who returned to Arlington after some 30 years as an FBI agent, said he understood the decision. The first sign that the parish had aged significantly was when he attended Mass at St. James upon his return and was told by another parishioner, ``It's good to see you young people here.''

Tierney was in his 50s.

Like others who are close to Lennon, the Tierneys are quick to defend him against critics. And like many married couples, they're accustomed to finishing each other's sentences:

Tom: ``Richard is capable of making a tough decision. He'll listen... ''

Maureen: ``... he's a good listener... ''

Tom: ``... but sometimes decisions hurt people and you know that at the outset... ''

Maureen: ``... but he will be honest, and he will be fair... ''

Tom: ``... and it will be the right decision for the church. So if his own parish is supposed to be closed, he would not interfere.''

The Rev. Farren said the media have characterized Lennon as someone who was there to ``slash and burn, and that wasn't his role at all. His whole point was to see how we can best allocate the resources of the diocese for the good of the diocese.''

While Farren is sure the criticism hurt Lennon personally, he said the bishop stoically accepted that part of his job was being the ``the bearer of bad news.''

Still, Lennon never shrank from responsibility, he said.

``Unfailingly, as soon as any problem emerged and was identified, he was ready to address it with no hesitation at all. He was clearheaded and resolute and not afraid to pursue these bad situations.''

Advice from New England

Lennon's entire life and career has been spent within an hour of Boston.

Now, at 59, his path is taking him 650 miles away from his lifelong network of friends and family, to a land where his thick New England accent will be all too obvious and his love for the Red Sox will be shared by few.

He's sure he'll need time to adjust, but he said he already has one very important thing in common with the new people he's been asked to lead.

``We have the same faith. We belong to the same church. So everything isn't new and different. There are things that bind us together already,'' he said.

Those he is leaving behind have messages for his new flock.

``Give him time to settle in, and he'll do the right thing for the Diocese of Cleveland,'' Tom Tierney said.

``And they won't find anyone who will work harder for them,'' finishes wife Maureen.

``This is a man who I think you're going to love,'' the Rev. Farren said, ``whose primary concern is to say, `Look, God loves you so much that he sent Jesus Christ, his only son, to die for you, and we're here to get that news out.' ''

And from the man who delivered Richard Lennon into this world on March 26, 1947:

``Just accept him with great pleasure. He really is a great, great man,'' said Dr. Allan McCarthy, who turned 100 years old last month.

Then McCarthy grew quiet before whispering an ``Oh, boy'' and deciding to confess his real request.

``Don't take him away from us.''




Paula Schleis can be reached at 330-996-3741 or pschleis@thebeaconjournal.com








© 2006 Beacon Journal and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.centredaily.com


4 posted on 04/09/2006 6:00:41 AM PDT by Diago ("Upon hearing about such things, I confess that I'm tempted to look for my shotgun and baseball bat")
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To: Diago

It would be nice if he gave you all a few indications, such as removing that dreadful gay pride flag, as soon as he arrived!

Personally, however, I think he'll be like Levada, who had a somewhat uneven practical track record but was generally known for orthodoxy when he replaced Quinn of SF (who was a truly terrible bishop even in a diocese known for terrible bishops). People had great hopes for Levada, and while he was certainly an improvement over Quinn, in that he did not create new horrible things, he did very little to change the old horrible things. And we can see where it got him - not only head of the CDF, but appointed to the Ecclesia Dei commission.

Sadly, I think the papal nuncio, the Pope's representative in the US who advises him on appointments, is simply going to give us more appointments of this nature. Not raving heretics, but not people who are going to do much to change the policies of predecessors who actually were raving heretics. I hope I'm wrong.


5 posted on 04/09/2006 6:19:55 AM PDT by livius
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To: livius
Sadly, I think the papal nuncio, the Pope's representative in the US who advises him on appointments, is simply going to give us more appointments of this nature. Not raving heretics, but not people who are going to do much to change the policies of predecessors who actually were raving heretics. I hope I'm wrong.

When the liberals hijacked Vatican II and created the mess we now have in the U. S. church, they worked very quickly. Perhaps we want to move more slowly so that the entire church has the opportunity to move back to where it needs to be without creating anger and rancor.

The liberals are scared. They don't want to lose what they think they have. New bishops have a difficult job; they must move their people back to the truth, and at the same time, hold on to and help return the lost souls of the dissenters.

The Church is very old. Overnight changes may be too traumatic and may cause more long term problems. Keep praying to the Holy Spirit. He will protect all of us and move the Church where it should be.

6 posted on 04/09/2006 8:11:34 AM PDT by MSSC6644
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To: MSSC6644

It's true, the folks who made the changes after VatII moved very quickly indeed. I lived through it and it was stunningly fast - and believe me, no objections were tolerated. They had their program in place and they enforced it immediately, sparing no one.

Those of us who have stuck with it (and many orthodox people, priests and laymen alike, were simply driven out) have been patient for 40 years. There have been bad times in the Church before and we all know it, although I think it has been rare (at least since the time of the Arian heresy) that heterodoxy has come from the top. But under today's conditions, with Islam panting at the gates and Christianity under attack everywhere, I don't know that we can tolerate a long wait for orthodoxy to be restored. I wish I felt that the bishops were aware of this and had more of a sense of urgency.


7 posted on 04/09/2006 10:43:29 AM PDT by livius
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To: MSSC6644
"The liberals are scared. They don't want to lose what they think they have."

Not really.... call us cautiously optimistic. You're right about the Church moving slowly. I am comforted by the reality that "sea-change" is not the sort of thing that I lose sleep over.

As long as the Bruskewitzs and Vasas are in such places as Lincoln NB and Baker OR ;-)

....not to worry.

8 posted on 04/09/2006 1:55:43 PM PDT by mirabile_dictu
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To: Diago

Eileen McNamara is an infamous dissenter from Catholic doctrine, and thus a favorite of the Boston Globe.


9 posted on 04/09/2006 2:08:20 PM PDT by Unam Sanctam
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To: Diago
Cleveland still remains in the hands of the antichrist I am afraid. Let St. Vincent Ferrer cry "Woe woe woe!"

Indeed, I pray to be proven dead wrong.

10 posted on 04/09/2006 2:59:03 PM PDT by Maeve (Chaplet of the Divine Mercy)
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To: Diago

Puff piece. He has a spine of steel, all right, but I don't think he uses it much to the true profit of the Church or its members. His display of that spine is best seen in a closed room, when he's dealing with parishioners of a church "on the list" in...um...less than pastoral and Christ-like fashion. We don't need CEO's, we need shepherds of souls. This individual might be capable as the head of some Fortune 500 company (but even then...), but he isn't so well cut out to lead souls to Heaven. Here in the West, we got into the mess we're in in large measure because we have prioritized "administrators" over "pastors" for men picked to be our bishops of late. Bishop Lennon fancies himself to be quite the administrator. Cleveland has my prayers!


11 posted on 04/10/2006 6:45:44 AM PDT by magisterium
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To: magisterium

I was thinking that he sounded like a Levada, but now that I think of it, he sounds more like an Egan. But time will tell, and I sure hope the best for the people of Cleveland.


12 posted on 04/10/2006 6:58:37 AM PDT by livius
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