So can we conclude that Tobin supports the TLM? (We’ll all be old and gray waiting for an article like this in the Pilot!)
He indeed does. In fact he has hosted Bishop Fernando Areas Rifan of Campos, Brazil to do a missionary appeal in several of his Portuguese (Azorean and Brazilian) parishes last week. I understand that he has resided in the Rectory of Holy Name of Jesus Church in Providence and was the guest of Fr. Joseph Santos its Administrator. For those who do not know this Holy Name has been the site of the Indult for several years. It has grown considerably under Bishop Tobin and Fr. Santos.
I wish we could be granted similar support from Cardinal O’Malley in Boston, seems less inclined.
Check out:
http://members.cox.net/holynamechurch/index.html
The Diocese of Providence is a very interesting Diocese. I have been to Mass at many of its Parishes and find an over use of Extraordinary Ministers to be typical, but also it seems to have a fair number of older orthodox Priests (usually its younger).
They also have a Church on every corner and one Priest in each one. For instance there are two parishes in Pawtucket (St. Leo and St. Cecelia) which have a house and street between them....and they both have grammar schoola and one has a high school.
Most interesting are two things (1) they don’t send their guys to Boston to study and (2) under the previous administration they advertised for Vocations on MTV.
My overall impression of Tobin is pretty good, he seems Pastoral and may just have inherited some of the schizophrenia I precieve in his Diocese.