Pope Elevates Biloxi Bishop, by Garry Mitchell, Hattiesburg American, April 3, 2008

Pope Elevates Biloxi Bishop

By Garry Mitchell
Hattiesburg American
April 3, 2008

http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080403/NEWS01/804030332/1002

MOBILE, Ala. - The Most Rev. Thomas J. Rodi, appointed as Roman Catholic archbishop of Mobile on Wednesday, said he doesn't take the post with any list of pressing needs, but pledged that any accusations of church sexual abuse will be reported to authorities.

"Misconduct is not going to be tolerated," Rodi said at a news conference.

Rodi served for five years on a church advisory committee on sexual abuse.

THOMAS J. RODI, the new Mobile archbishop, greets churchgoers after a Mass at the Vatican on Wednesday.
Photo by Associated Press

"I make a pledge that if there are any accusations of abuse of minors that it will be reported as the law requires," Rodi said.

"I pledge that we will cooperate fully with civil authorities."

Rodi leaves his post as bishop of Biloxi to succeed retiring Archbishop Oscar Lipscomb and minister to some 68,331 Catholics in 28 counties of south Alabama.

Pope Benedict XVI announced the appointment.

As bishop in Biloxi, Rodi oversaw the priests who are pastors at Hattiesburg parishes: the Rev. Bill Vollor at Holy Rosary Catholic Church, the Rev. Ken Ramon-Landry at Sacred Heart Catholic Church and the Rev. Tommy Conway at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church.

"We wish him good luck," Conway said.

"It's an exciting time for him and an exciting time for us.

"We are looking forward to someone new at the leadership position."

Rodi, at a press conference to announce his new appointment, said he will continue to oversee the Biloxi diocese until a replacement is named. That may take up to a year.

Lipscomb has been planning to retire since 2006, when he announced plans to step down at age 75. It's taken this long to name his replacement.

Rodi, a New Orleans native with a law degree from Tulane University, among other academic degrees, will be installed at a Mass on June 6.

Vollor said speculation was that Rodi was to be considered for a while.

"He seems to be a very promising member of the hierarchy," he said.

"It's always a surprise in a way but in another it wasn't."

Lipscomb, the archbishop since 1980, when Mobile became an archdiocese, introduced Rodi at the news conference, pointing out Rodi's leadership in Hurricane Katrina recovery on the Mississippi Gulf Coast since the Aug. 29, 2005, disaster.

Rodi was asked about the growing ranks of Hispanic immigrants that have boosted the Catholic population in Alabama.

He said the church continues its long-standing "rich heritage" of reaching out to the pastoral needs of immigrants.

"It's a wait-and-see approach," Vollor said. "All we can do is wish him well. He's a very talented man, and even from the beginning, many people thought he was here passing through."