NEWTON (MA)
Boston Globe
September 30, 2005
AFTER VANDALS smeared swastikas on the door of the Adams Street synagogue in 1997, the Rev. Walter Cuenin got 300 people out of the pews at Sunday Mass and marched them up the street to show his support for his Jewish neighbors. This was an early sign of the dynamic, innovative, and inclusive leadership he would demonstrate as he led Our Lady, Help of Christians parish in Newton through the turmoil of the sexual abuse scandal, the worst crisis in the history of the Catholic church in Boston.
Now he is gone, forced out by Archbishop Sean O'Malley on trivial accusations of financial impropriety. And my family, parishioners at Our Lady's for the last seven or eight years, feel bereft, empty, and deeply angered. We, and hundreds of others, have lost a leader who energized our spiritual lives and gave my spouse, children, and me a nurturing home in the Catholic faith.
Like many Catholics, we were looking for a church that was spiritually vibrant and accessible to the many Catholics who feel estranged from the faith, including gay people, the divorced, and the remarried. As a hymn sung often at Mass proclaimed, ''All are welcome in this place."
Cardinal Bernard Law appointed Cuenin to the pastorship in 1993 when Our Lady's grand 112-year-old church had fallen into disrepair. Cuenin led a $4 million campaign to restore the church to its earlier splendor. He assembled an 11-person staff to educate the children and guide the ministries that would meet after Mass or in the evenings. He made sure that strong, independent lay people were elected to the pastoral council and finance council to monitor and advise on parish operations.