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Posted Monday, July 14, 2003 at 8:56 a.m. CST
A Weblog tracking reactions and responses to the appointment of Bishop Sean Patrick O'Malley to the Boston archdiocese
Compiled by Tom Fox, NCR publisher,
tfox@natcath.org
July 14 10:52 a.m.
NCR’s Latest Coverage
The following three pieces appear in the July 18
print edition of the National Catholic Reporter
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July 14 8:56 a.m.
Vacancies occupy Catholic church
The church faces a potential record number retirement vacancies among U.S.
bishops this year, so the hunt is on for extraordinary apostles. By the end of
2003, 37 diocesan bishops and auxiliaries will have passed age 75, the age at
which they’re required to offer their resignation to the pope.
Why so few good men?
Philadelphia Inquirer: The naming of
Bishop Sean O’Malley to head the Boston archdiocese just months after he
was sent to rebuild the church in Palm Beach, Fla., shows he is trusted by the
Vatican but has raised questions about whether the Roman Catholic church has too
small a pool of capable leaders.
New archbishop’s style may be seen in where he resides
Boston Globe: O’Malley
took one look at the bishop’s residence in Florida and decided it was too much
for him. He gave the big house to a group of nuns and moved into the small house
next to the cathedral. The rector of the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, in
Boston’s South End, is inviting O’Malley to move there. Boston College,
the Catholic institution across the street from the archdiocese, is offering to
buy the Brighton house and surrounding acreage. And many Catholics have said
they would like to see the archbishop live somewhere other than the traditional
residence, if only for symbolic reasons.
July 12 7:43 a.m.
Emissary pushes ahead
Boston Herald:
Archbishop-designate Sean P. O’Malley’s new emissary to hundreds of
sexual-abuse plaintiffs hosted some 30 attorneys yesterday to push ahead
prospects for a global settlement in the church molestation scandal. But several
attorneys said the talks were “general” and did not address how much money the
Boston archdiocese would offer its more than 500 accusers, or what system would
be used to apportion the payouts.
Barbarito to take command Aug. 28
Palm Beach Post: Simplicity is in
order. “Bishop Barbarito asked us to keep [his installation] very simple,
so it will be simple,” said Fr. Charles Notabartolo, vicar general of the
diocese. He said the bishops of Florida’s seven dioceses would be invited, as
they were for the installation of Bishop Sean P. O’Malley last October.
Hope builds in Boston
Boston Herald: Jim Post,
president of Voice of the Faithful: “He understands that many survivors
desperately want to hear an apology, a recognition of their pain and their lost
innocence. He has shown sensitivity to these needs, and I very much hope he will
do so in Boston, which has been the epicenter of this crisis for more than 18
months.”
Lasting church change emerging from sex abuse this crisis.
Tallahassee Democrat:
Scholar maintains an educated, informed and proactive laity is expecting a real
seat at the table. “Groups such as Voice of the Faithful are composed of solid,
loyal, mainstream and active Catholics. They are as vital a part of the ‘People
of God’ as the hierarchy, a reality that is as true practically (they, finally,
pay the bills) as it is theologically. To not listen to them and to not share
power with them will mean further trouble ahead.”
July 10 at 9:05
a.m.
Another job for O'Malley
Boston Globe: The Bowdoin-Geneva
neighborhood has emerged as one of the most crime-scarred in the city. "Since
O'Malley's appointment, much attention has been focused on the hundreds of
victims of clergy sexual abuse still waiting for justice from their church. But
the residents of Bowdoin Street are victims just as surely, not of abuse but of
neglect by the institutions that should embrace them."
Friar's garb signals change, but is it enough?
Boston Globe:
The Vatican is learning the value of good public relations from the past year of
turmoil in the American Catholic Church. Its rolling out of a new archbishop of
Boston shows a deft political touch lacking in its previous response to the
clergy sexual abuse scandal and other church-related matters. Now the hard part
begins: Will a critical mass of local Catholics follow Bishop Sean Patrick
O'Malley and his sandals back to Sunday Mass? And once back, will they put their
money behind their church?
July 9 at 8:43
a.m.
Major settlement of Boston sex abuse cases looking up
Boston Globe: Lawyers for
alleged victims of clergy sexual abuse and those for the Boston archdiocese,
including the church's new lawyer, said they were optimistic yesterday that more
than 500 lawsuits filed against the church could be settled after meeting
privately with the judge presiding over the cases.
Boston Church Lawyers Take Key Legal Step
Associated Press:
Attorney Roderick MacLeish Jr. said he has reached an agreement with
church attorneys that would bar attempts to take testimony from the therapist of
one of his clients, Gregory Ford. MacLeish said he expected the
church would stop seeking depositions of therapists in all the cases pending
against it.
Boston Church Leader Hires Lawyer Known for Settlements
The New York Times:
Bishop Sean P. O'Malley has hired a lawyer known for swiftly settling
sexual abuse cases to advise him on the nearly 500 legal claims pending against
the archdiocese. The move buoyed plaintiffs' lawyers, who have been working to
resolve the cases for more than a year.
The climate has changed
Associated Press:
A lawyer representing alleged victims of sex abuse by priests in Boston says,
"the climate has changed." Roderick MacLeish says he's encouraged that
the man selected to run the archdiocese has taken some new steps to settle abuse
cases. MacLeish says he's especially pleased that Bishop Sean O'Malley
has hired as his personal attorney a lawyer who worked with him before on abuse
cases.
Enter the new attorney
A new
attorney made his entrance Tuesday into the legal standoff between the church
and alleged victims of clergy sexual abuse who are suing the archdiocese. Tom
Hannigan, who has been hired by incoming Archbishop Sean Patrick
O'Malley, said he was collecting information so that O'Malley could
''make the important decisions that await him.''
July 8 at 9:53
a.m.
Church settlement progress said to be made
WCVB-TV: Attorneys bringing hundreds
of sex abuse lawsuits against the Boston archdiocese said Monday that there had
been encouraging developments in their efforts to reach a settlement with the
church but would not discuss specifics.
Attorneys pleased with new Boston bishop
Associated Press:
Lawyers for alleged victims of pedophile priests said they were encouraged by
new steps taken by the archbishop-elect, particularly his selection of a
personal attorney. "The climate has changed," said attorney Roderick MacLeish
Jr., whose firm has 260 cases pending against the Boston archdiocese. "The mood
has changed. There's going to be some fresh perspectives."
Not waiting to get started
Boston Globe:
A Boston lawyer who has specialized in helping
Catholic leaders reach speedy and amicable agreements with victims of clergy
sexual abuse has been hired by the incoming leader of the Boston archdiocese,
Bishop Sean Patrick O'Malley, to help speed the settlement of more than
500 pending lawsuits.
Just call me Bishop Sean
Arizona Daily Star:
The way he approached victims in those dioceses says something about O'Malley,
said Roderick MacLeish, a lead lawyer for hundreds of people suing the
Boston archdiocese. MacLeish recalled a night about a decade ago when --
against his advice -- 13 angry victims of Porter piled into a van and went to
O'Malley's residence in Fall River, demanding to see him. "Bishop Sean,"
as MacLeish's clients called him, got out of bed, met with them and
resolved the problems they were complaining about, MacLeish said.
Prophets among us
National Catholic Reporter: September
2002, NCR reader Lee Kaspari writes: "It is interesting that
Capuchin Bishop Sean P. O'Malley of Fall River, Mass., has been sent to
Palm Beach, Fla. (NCR, Sept. 13). It appears that Bishop O'Malley
is better suited to staying close to home to heal the pedophilia problem in
Boston, which has been tremendously compounded by the episcopal cover-up by
Cardinal Bernard Law.”
As O'Malley installation grows closer wider episcopal questions beg answers
San Francisco Chronicle: "The stakes
are high. Without a clear and dramatic cleansing from positions of trust of the
worst offending bishops, the very leaders who allowed this evil will remain. It
is time that the bishops look to themselves and their own and hold accountable
those among them who have so failed the church."
Priest: Time to reform the priesthood
San Francisco Chronicle: "I sense the
hierarchy will take no responsibility for the wayward conduct of a priest of
yesteryear, yet it is the bishop who keeps the seminary of today in the same
unhealthy straitjacket of pious denial and ignorance. … I appeal to the people
to understand this clerical dilemma; there needs to be change and healthy change
will come when the people speak out loudly. Demand change by withholding your
money; give the bishop your conditioned IOU."
July 7 at 8:25
a.m. Reports this
morning address the weariness of Catholics to the sexual abuse crisis in their
church. Battered, they are particularly eager for a new era with new leadership.
In comes “Santa Claus in a Franciscan garb” and a mood of hope is struck. But
will the wider body of bishops embrace wider reforms?
American hierarchy’s commitment to reform is still doubted by the faithful
International Herald
Tribune: Enter a “holy man” in the
raiment of an outsider. “Would that there were many more in sight to reassure
worshipers about the virtue of their priests.”
At the top of the Palm Beach diocese, bishops come and go.
South Florida
Sun-Sentinel: When Gerald M.
Barbarito is installed as prelate this fall, he will be the fifth bishop to lead
the 225,000 Roman Catholics in the diocese since it was created 19 years ago.
Worshipers express hope about the naming of a
new leader
Boston Globe:
Parishioners see beginning of a new day for the church in Boston.
July 6 at 9:42
a.m.
Pope has increasingly turned to religious-order priests to serve as leaders.
Boston Globe:
"Religious order priests haven't been immune to scandal, and some orders have
been accused of failing to take abuse allegations seriously. But some scholars
suggested the Franciscans' tradition of humility might be particularly
attractive now in Boston, where the church's credibility is low and leadership
has been seen by many as secretive and self-protective."
O'Malley offers an obvious change
Standard-Times:
"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. "
Not easy but possible
Boston Herald:
Archbishop-designate Sean P. O'Malley faces a monumental challenge in
restoring the Catholic church in Boston to spiritual and financial health but
can succeed if he listens generously and trusts experts and lay people from
across the theological spectrum.
O'Malley: Seen not a Vatican insider, but as a peoples' bishop
New York
Times via Orlando Sentinel:
It is rare for a bishop to be from a religious order; among the nation's 195
dioceses, only 21 are run by bishops belonging to orders. Only one other bishop,
in Denver, is from the Capuchin order to which O'Malley belongs.
July 5 at 8:56
a.m.
San Bernardino diocese withdraws complaint filed against the Archdiocese of
Boston Inland Valley Daily
Bulletin: Rippling effect of positive
spirit spreads coast to coast, signaling new inter-diocesan cooperation.
Bernardino Bishop Gerald Barnes: "It is important to me to live and be an
example of the gospel. That means sitting down with Bishop O'Malley to
resolve this matter directly."
Lawyers restart church lawsuits
Boston Globe: Court deadlines cited
as preparations resume. Lawyers representing about 400 people suing the church
say they cannot in good conscience delay their trial preparations any longer.
They had voluntarily put litigation on hold for four months while waiting for a
settlement offer from the archdiocese.
Goodwill continued seen in local Boston press reactions
Boston Herald: "Trust and healing are
at the center of what the Archdiocese of Boston needs now, and Bishop
O'Malley seems the right kind of leader at the right time."
John Allen reflects on O'Malley choice
Word from Rome: Three reasons why he
was the Vatican choice: First, he is a fix-it man on the sex abuse issue. …
Second, O’Malley is a known quantity in Boston because of his decade in
Fall River. … Third, O’Malley is the kind of man who inspires trust as a
pastor and as a spiritual leader, and at bottom the crisis in Boston is
spiritual.
July 4 at 9:32
a.m.
He fairly radiated compassion, contrition and humility.
This is how the editors at the Berkshire
Eagle in Pittsburgh, Mass. summed up the bishop set to take over Boston.
"One half expected a crowd of birds and small animals to gather around him,"
after he showed up in his Franciscan garb asking for forgiveness. Francis, of
course, was a reformer, a Call to Action kind of religious figure. "He restored
a focus on spirituality and ministry to the poor to a church that had grown
wealthy, powerful and corrupt." Are the editors here suggesting something?
Would that there were many more in sight to reassure worshipers about the virtue
of their priests. The New York
Times this morning is also marveling
at what appears to be a seeming humble and contrite bishop. Inevitably some of
his warts will surface, no doubt, because he his human like the rest of us. But
for the moment the entire church seems fixated at the possibility that seemingly
a Christian leader has been appointed to a key Catholic leadership position.
Write the editors: "Would that there were many more in sight to reassure
worshipers about the virtue of their priests."
Would that the bishops have
listened…
Then
the
Times goes on to say: "There are other bishops similarly dedicated, but
their task has been weighted by the American hierarchy's arrogant history of
trying to bury the scandal and rebuff the voice of the laity. As early as 1985,
the
National Catholic Reporter warned
that a 'broader scandal' was brewing in the bishops' protection of abusers. That
scandal arrived, and it will remain until the Vatican and the hierarchy turn
even more to the church's strength in forthright people like Bishop O'Malley."
July 3 at 9:15
a.m.
Report: Bishop Sean O'Malley will be installed archbishop of Boston on July 30.
Report: Low-key installation is O'Malley wish.
Reactions to the
O'Malley appointment continue to fill Catholic press coverage.
New York Times news analysis by religion writer Laurie
Goodstein captures Boston euphoria -- "He looks like Santa Claus dressed up
as St. Francis." Also cites intractable challenges. "There are organized
lobbies of priests and laypeople pressing for changes in the hierarchical,
top-down management style. And there is also a larger and more mobilized group
of sexual abuse victims than he has ever contended with before."
Appointment highlights
leadership crisis in US episcopal ranks.
Rap: Pope gets high marks
for missionary zeal, but pontificate has produced few strong bishops. Some say
issues too large for troubled church. Others that fixation on orthodoxy produces
institutional bishops unable to dare the risks required by true leaders.
Richard N. Ostling of the Associated Press
writes: "The appointment of Bishop Sean O'Malley to head the Boston archdiocese
just months after he was sent to rebuild the church in Palm Beach, Fla., shows
he is trusted by the Vatican but has raised questions about whether the Roman
Catholic church has too small a pool of capable leaders." He writes: "Liberals
see a conservative pope who has picked bishops for their loyalty over leadership
skills. Conservatives see a church with problems so large that relatively few
people can handle them."
Musical thrones: Palm Beach
to Boston; New York to Palm Beach.
Overshadowed by the Boston appointment is another: Ogdensburg, NY Bishop Gerald
Barbarito will fill the Palm Beach vacancy.
At a press conference called to announce his
appointment, Barbarito said, "I am as surprised to be here as you are this
morning."
NCR profiled Barbarito with a report filed July 2.
Palm Beach editorial: Stuart News welcomes new bishop
"Hopefully Barbarito will have a longer
stay."
Report: Left hanging interim Boston cleric, Bishop Richard Lennon.
Lest we not forget. This
report, via
Abuse Tracker, staffed by
Kathy Shaw, religion writer for the
Worcester Telegram & Gazette, on
Poynter Institute Web site:
Boston Globe Thomas Farragher:
O'Malley sits eye to eye with men and women whose lives have been shattered
by clergy sex abuse.
Wednesday
July 2, 1:08 p.m.
NCR’s Joe Feuerherd:
The tension had been so thick for so
long in Boston, people so dispirited, that the July 1 announcement that a
seemingly humble Franciscan would take over as archbishop – and certainly, at
some point, as cardinal – brought enormous relief and, for the moment,
significant good will. That was clear in early reactions to the announcement.
While close church watchers
knew of O’Malley’s work in Palm Beach, the wider church did not. Until
yesterday, he was a relative unknown. To see him arriving for his first press
conference in his Capuchin Franciscan garb sent out a signal of new things to
come, a more humble church. Nothing is more needed.
Boston Globe: Historians pointed out that unlike most of his other
B-town predecessors, O’Malley did not make his clerical reputation in
Rome. Nevertheless he is a theological conservative church observers insisted.
So was Oscar Romero.
The
Boston Globe's Pulitzer prize winning staff was among those stressing
O'Malley's humility, saying it was a refreshing contrast to former see
leader, Cardinal Law. After years of repeatedly hearing the canned and
hollow term, “compassionate conservative,” have we finally encountered the
genuine thing?
We are going to learn a lot
about O'Malley in a short period, including all kinds of details of his
life style. That’s the nature of 24/7 news and being under the bright media
lights of the East Coast.
Boston Globe: O'Malley, at 59, for example, wears sandals year
around. The term “a breath of fresh air" was appearing in a number of reports.
However, with the bright
lights comes new scrutiny. The
Boston Globe's investigative
team, hot on the abuse trail, pointed out that when O'Malley was bishop
of Fall River, Massachusetts from 1992 to 2002, he allowed one of his priests
to
continue as a missionary in Bolivia after a woman charged the priest had
sexually molested her.
Report: and so what does Cardinal Law think about his successor?
Statement of Cardinal Bernard
F. Law, archbishop emeritus of Boston: Routine stuff. Maybe more will
come later.
Newsday report: At his July 1
news conference O'Malley did what has been so difficult for so many other
bishops to do over the years. You wonder why. He apologized to clergy sex abuse
victims and pledged to ensure the safety of children within the church. Sad that
it is an essential requirement. Then he met privately with some victims,
including one camped out on the street in front of the chancery. O’Malley:
“I have said it many times, and I'm going to say it again to the victims today,
that as much as I can represent the church as bishop, I do ask for forgiveness
for these horrendous sins and crimes that have been committed."
Boston Register-Herald: For the
record, last fall, the Boston church settled with 86 alleged victims of
defrocked priest John Geoghan. But hundreds of other claims are still
pending. An offer to resolve about 400 claims appeared imminent in recent weeks
but later church officials announced they could not reach an agreement with
insurers.
Radio commentary: clergy sex abuse victim cautions:
Today’s church crisis is far larger than any
single bishop can manage or rectify. “If nothing else, the evidence revealed
over the past 18 months highlights one undeniable truth: The protection of the
vulnerable cannot be left to the good will of individuals. Only when every
Catholic – every mother, father, aunt, uncle, sister brother and friend –
assumes personal responsibility for holding bishops and priests accountable for
the horrible failures will healing begin.”
Journal News: Capuchins celebrate Boston appointment.
Rightly proud. “When Bishop Sean O'Malley was having breakfast this past
weekend with his fellow Capuchin friars at an austere friary in Manhattan, he
gave no indication that he was about to take over the scandal-ridden Boston
archdiocese. He simply sliced a banana on his cereal, like he usually does when
he stays at St. John Baptist Church and Friary, across the street from Madison
Square Garden.”
Tuesday July 1, 11:08 p.m.
A known quantity
Boston Herald columnist Tom Mashberg made the point that O’Malley, who was
bishop of Fall River, Massachusetts for ten years, from 1992 to 2002, “is a
known quantity.” Fall River has many Spanish-speaking Catholics. Languages?
Mashberg writes that the new bishop is fluent in Spanish as well as Portuguese,
French, Italian and German.
Looks like a honeymoon and grand sendoff.
The Palm Beach Post expressed sadness and surprise at the appointment.
“Only nine months ago, Sean Patrick O'Malley seemed the perfect choice
for a scandal-rocked Diocese of Palm Beach, which had lost two bishops in a row
to sexual abuse charges,” Staff Writer Lona O'Connor wrote. “But what
made him right for Palm Beach and Fall River makes him even more right for
Boston, shaken to its core by scores of accusations that priests sexually abused
young people.”
Another Post article painted the departing bishop as a healer. “This
shows the appointment isn't just an afterthought," said Louise Dittrich,
co-founder of Voice of the Faithful, a lay Catholic group dedicated to urging
the church hierarchy to remove abusers and help victims. “It was made not just
to bring orthodoxy but to bring a pastoral presence. It's a signal to the rest
of the country."
Yet another Post article lamented
that O’Malley’s short nine-month tenure in Palm Beach was just beginning
to bear fruits and that he was just beginning to revamp the diocese. Even as
Palm Beach residents woke up to the news that their bishops was likely to leave
there was an uncertainty about the situation. Palm Beach editors and, in turn,
newspaper readers were still relying on NCR’s John Allen for their
information. The paper reported the appointment through NCR, writing:
“The National Catholic Reporter said Vatican sources named O'Malley
as the replacement for Cardinal Bernard Law, who resigned under fierce
pressure last December. John Allen Jr., the paper's Rome correspondent,
said in the story and in a TV interview the appointment would be announced today
or Wednesday.” It was all happening very fast.
Tuesday July 1, 3:50 p.m.
NCR O’Malley scoop highlights John Allen’s work in Rome
John Allen has been NCR’s Vatican Correspondent since July 2000 and seems
to grow in stature with each passing month. While no one predicted John would
break the O’Malley appointment story, it came as little surprise that he
did. He learned of the appointment June 30 only 24 hours after O’Malley
was tapped for the post. After getting the information, Allen called NCR
editor Tom Roberts for direction. Should he file to the NCR
website? Should he go on CNN with his exclusive? The two journalists discussed
the question of how to break the story before they agreed to go to
CNN. But with a caveat that CNN
would refer to the news as a “National Catholic Reporter exclusive.”
By six in the morning East Coast time the
Associated Press began reporting the
CNN story, citing Allen’s report -- but still hedging. AP stated
incorrectly that Allen reported O’Malley was the “likely”
candidate for Boston. Fact is Allen reported O’Malley was the pope’s
choice. No hedging. Other papers went with the AP report most of the day.
The
Boston Globe among East Coast papers to cite NCR as source of story
“Pope John Paul II is expected this morning to name Bishop Sean Patrick
O'Malley of Palm Beach, Fla., as the new archbishop of Boston, according
to two people close to O'Malley," the Globe reported July 1. It warned “the
pope could change his mind” before stating the appointment “was first reported
yesterday by the National Catholic Reporter, an independent Catholic
weekly."
The appointment was announced at the Vatican mid morning
Rome time. The newly appointed bishop appeared at a Boston archdiocese press
conference six hours later, saying he wished to be a reconciling bishop, adding
he was still overwhelmed by the appointment. I’m “still kind of shell-shocked by
the news, which I got about 48 hours ago,” he was quoted as saying in
The New York Times.
The appointment sparked a flood of news articles. “O'Malley
will face a wide array of constituencies and what may be the most serious
scandal ever to hit the church in the United States. First on his agenda, there
are 500 alleged victims of clergy sexual abuse to console and a half-dozen
high-profile plaintiffs' lawyers to negotiate with," the
Boston Herald wrote.
Some clergy abuse critics were quick to offer warnings. “He has a humble, soft-spoken appearance but is not to be trusted," said
Frank Fitzpatrick of Cranston, R.I., a victim of the Rev. James R. Porter
and organizer of Porter accusers who runs Survivor Connections. “He's a
PR man who puts out fires for the church by calming the population and the
survivors with money and words,” Cranston was quoted as saying in another
Boston Herald article.
A time for boldness
Boston Globe columnist Brian McGrory gave the appointment a general
thumbs up, but with qualifications. He wrote: “This is not a time for the
timid. The people of Boston, Catholic and otherwise, need the next archbishop to
arrive in this city like a cleansing summer storm. It's a time to be radical,
not incremental, a time to be swift, not slow, a time for inclusion rather than
the exclusion that has characterized too much of the recent past.” McGrory
went on: “If it's Bishop Sean O'Malley who is appointed to the Boston
post this morning, terrific. It would be the most sensible move the Vatican has
made since this paper exposed the breadth of the church sex scandal last year.
But even O'Malley must understand that every day of inaction is another day of
squandered good will, and the Catholic Church can't afford to shed even one more
precious drop.”
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