January 26, 2006

Detroit's pacifist bishop resigns

DETROIT (MI)
Detroit Free Press

January 26, 2006

BY DAVID CRUMM and PATRICIA MONTEMURRI
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS

Today at the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI is expected to announce the resignation of one of the world's most controversial Catholic leaders, Detroit Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Gumbleton.

The pacifist bishop, who has dropped into many of the world's political hot spots in his crusades for social justice, turns 76 today. His resignation as an assistant to Detroit Cardinal Adam Maida was called for under church law when he reached the age of 75. ...

Maida, who was in Marquette on Wednesday for the installation of a new bishop for the Upper Peninsula, could not be reached for comment. But McGrath said the cardinal, who staunchly opposes opening up past abuse cases to legal action, is likely to raise major questions about his former auxiliary's political activism.

Posted by kshaw at January 26, 2006 08:27 AM