Posted on 01/05/2006 6:26:05 AM PST by Knitting A Conundrum
Cleveland bishop contacts Vatican about retirement Associated Press
CLEVELAND - The city's Roman Catholic bishop, who will celebrate 25 years in that post on Friday, has asked the Vatican to consider appointing his replacement.
Bishop Anthony Pilla declined to reveal the reasons for his retirement request, saying a letter he had written to the Vatican was private.
The date of his retirement is at the discretion of the Vatican, said Pilla, who is awaiting a response from Pope Benedict XVI and his staff.
"I have let the Holy See know that it would be good for the diocese," Pilla told The Plain Dealer for a story Thursday.
(Excerpt) Read more at ohio.com ...
I'm popping in quickly at lunch so folks won't feel the need to ping me anymore with the great news. Let us all pray and fast for a strong, new Catholic bishop of Cleveland.
And yes, there is an ongoing federal investigation into some of Pilla's activities unrelated to the whole child abuse mess in our diocese.
I fear his legacy will be his dishonesty.
I don't envy the man who follows in Pilla's footsteps...He'll have a real job ahead of him. St. Charles Borromeo, pray for our bishops.
Ping!
Amen!
**He'll have a real job ahead of him.**
A purging of "you know what."
I can't understand why loony liberals always seem to be squshy pacifists as well. What's the connection?
Let us also ask for the intercession of St. John Neumann, whose feast day is today, and St. John Fisher, the only bishop who stood up to Henry VIII.
Thanks for stopping in Diago!
I truly wish him the best but I will be glad to see him go.
The interesting thing about this whole thing is that Pilla submitting his resignation letter is not really news. The diocese told some of its employees about this a few weeks ago. Rumors that the resignation had been submitted have been out there for a year.
From what I was told, Pilla was encouraged to submit such a letter and did submit such a letter months ago. Pilla did request that he be allowed to celebrate his 25th aniversary as a bishop.
What is interesting is that the local media certainly new about this at least a month ago, when folks employed by the diocese started telling everyone. But yet not a peep from the media. Instead, the media agreed to abide by Pilla's timeline and not say anything until the eve of his 25th anivesary. Being "gay friendly" buys you a lot of goodwill with the media.
NOW THE GOOD NEWS. Pilla's resignation will be accepted any day now, perhaps as early as tomorrow and certainly before the end of the month!
A good time for Bob Vasa to leave Baker (Oregon) and come back to the midwest. He's been there for 6 years now and is still young enough to take on the responsibilities of a major diocese.
Excellent. Now maybe Cleveland will get a real bishop.
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