Dallas Catholics, by Sam Hodges, Dallas Morning News, May 18, 2008

Dallas Catholics

By Sam Hodges
Dallas Morning News
May 18, 2008

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/DN-farrell_18met.ART.State.Edition2.4626aa0.html

Bishop Kevin Farrell put 12,000 miles on a Toyota Avalon during his first year as leader of the nine-county Catholic Diocese of Dallas, visiting far-flung churches and schools.

He recalls some rookie mistakes, such as scheduling himself for a late morning in Bonham followed by an early afternoon in Corsicana more than 100 miles away. He also acknowledges sometimes arriving incognito at a church, without collar, to say prayers but also to get an unfiltered feel for the place.

It was a full immersion course in North Texas. And it grew into a charm offensive, as he tried to raise spirits in a diocese hard hit by clergy sex abuse and attendant litigation and publicity.

Bishop Kevin Farrell encountered blessings and burdens in his rookie year as head of the Catholic Diocese of Dallas.
Photo by Courtney Perry

"I feel very strongly that I have to unite the Catholic community," he said. "It's gone through hell for the last 10 years. I've listened to the people in the parishes. I've heard them talk about the past. I feel now is a chance for us to turn the corner."

After a cautious beginning, Bishop Farrell has begun to assert himself, making major personnel changes at diocese headquarters. He's also speaking plainly about the challenge of helping the diocese which has grown to more than 1 million Catholics catch up in staffing, infrastructure and fundraising.

"I am faced with, I would say, staggering needs, and I have no financial resources," he said.

Early reviews of Bishop Farrell as a genial, energetic new leader have taken on dimension.

"He's a man of action and good sense," said Nancy Gray, safe environment director at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Lake Highlands.

Jerry Lastelick a Dallas lawyer and part of a group that unsuccessfully tried to oust Bishop Farrell's predecessor, Charles Grahmann, over his handling of clergy sex abuse cases sees Bishop Farrell's outreach efforts as creating a new dynamic in the diocese.

"People are willing to saddle up and get in the posse with him," Mr. Lastelick said.

But Bishop Farrell has courted controversy by having the diocese buy a big, expensive house as his residence. And the smooth ride of his early tenure hit a pothole last week when the Rev. Arthur Mallinson resigned as pastor at a McKinney parish over complaints about his past participation with a Web site for gay priests.

Though it wasn't a sex abuse case, Bishop Farrell had to do damage control, going before television cameras to say the matter would be reviewed by a lay board.

In communications, as in everything else that goes with running a diocese, he acknowledges he's finding his way.

"I've tried to be as open as I can," he said.

The good and the bad

Bishop Farrell, a 60-year-old native of Dublin, Ireland, entered priesthood early, making educational and pastoral stops in Rome; Monterrey, Mexico; and Washington, D.C. In Washington, he rose to auxiliary bishop, and he gained a reputation as a workaholic with administrative savvy.

Pope Benedict XVI appointed him early last year as bishop of the Dallas Diocese (Bishop Grahmann was retiring), and he was installed May 1, 2007, at the downtown Cathedral Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe.

Bishop Farrell told everyone who asked that he came with almost no knowledge of North Texas. What he found was a best-of-times, worst-of-times situation.

Texas is a growth area for Catholicism, fueled by Hispanic and other immigration and by the Sun Belt migration of Northerners. Since 1990, the Diocese of Dallas has gone from just over 200,000 to almost 1.1 million Catholics.

Bishop Farrell, who had to help close failing parishes and schools in the Washington area, gets animated talking about how even inner-city parishes here are well-attended.

But the clergy sex abuse scandal that clouded U.S. Catholicism rained on the Diocese of Dallas, bringing multimillion-dollar legal settlements, much negative publicity, and division among the faithful over whether Bishop Grahmann should keep his job. (Bishop Farrell said he inherited a handful of abuse cases, some in "active negotiations" for settlement.)

Even the diocese's growth has had a shadow side, causing a critical need for new church and school buildings, particularly in poor Hispanic parishes. Meanwhile, the nationwide priest shortage is acute here.

"I could open up five parishes, just like that, and they would be full," Bishop Farrell said. "I don't have the priests."

Positive light

In responding to the blessings and burdens of his job, Bishop Farrell has made public relations a priority, hiring a communications director and hitting the road himself to meet people around the diocese.

One day recently, he visited three Dallas-area schools, then drove to Waxahachie to lead a confirmation Mass, lingering until about 10 p.m. to shake hands and pose for photographs. He enjoys the public role, and he engages young people, in particular, with an easy, teasing manner.

"Sit down," he told St. Rita Catholic School eighth-graders who had risen when he entered their classroom. "I'm not the pope."

Bishop Farrell's early directives include having his priests lead prayers at every Mass for "vocations" decisions for entering the priesthood or another form of the religious life. He also has sought to bolster morale of the priests, whom he describes as overworked and unfairly tarnished by the sex-abuse scandal.

"He gave us all his private e-mail address, and he always e-mails you right back," said the Rev. Robert Williams, pastor of Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Garland. "He's said over and over that we can approach him about anything."

Bishop Farrell has changed the name of the diocese's Dallas headquarters from Chancery to Pastoral Center and done a diocese staff shake-up, naming a new vicar general, schools superintendent and child-safety officer. He also hired an extra accountant for oversight of parish and school funds, and created the position of vicar for clergy.

There has been buzz about Bishop Farrell's decision to have the diocese take out a 30-year mortgage on a 6,000-square-foot, $1.3 million house in northwest Dallas. He's living in the house and said at least two more priests eventually will join him.

Bishop Farrell stayed in leased housing at first, but believed that was throwing diocese money away. He said he determined early that one of his priorities would have to be fundraising and that he would need quarters where he could meet with potential major contributors.

"I can go to all the chicken dinners in the parishes, but do you think that's going to solve my financial problems?" he said, ticking off specific building needs and debts of local Catholic churches and schools.

Neil O'Brien, a Dallas lawyer long active in Catholic causes, said he could understand if some questioned the purchase. But he doesn't.

"There's no place I know of, other than the chancery, where the bishop can invite people," he said. "There can and should be a way to get more laity involved and raise more money."

Assisting parishes

Bishop Farrell said he is committed to helping John Paul II High School in Plano reduce a debt that he puts at $30 million. Parishes generally raise their own funds for buildings, but he said it's "stupid, excuse my language," to think that overflowing, predominantly low-income Hispanic parishes won't need help.

He vows to be a major part of rebuilding north Oak Cliff's St. Cecilia Catholic Church, whose 500-seat sanctuary was nearly destroyed by fire in August. "I want to rebuild that church for at least a thousand to 1,500 people," he said.

Bishop Farrell believes the diocese has underachieved at fundraising, noting that its annual appeal pulls in about $5 million, while the Archdiocese of Washington raises twice as much from half as many Catholics.

As for other priorities, Bishop Farrell said he eventually will write a "pastoral plan" a mission statement specific to the diocese. He expects to ask the Vatican for auxiliary bishops, which he says the diocese merits because of its size. He also wants to do more interfaith and ecumenical work.

Pressed about the University of Dallas, a Catholic school that has struggled financially and has had internal tensions over its academic and theological focus, Bishop Farrell expressed support for the administration. He noted that colleges are hotbeds of conflict, and he said helping UD boost its endowment is on his long list of things to do.

From his first day here, Bishop Farrell was teased about whether he would shift allegiance from the Washington Redskins to the Dallas Cowboys. He attended their game here last season and rooted for his new home team, recalling with surprise "how quick and easy it was to become a full-fledged Cowboys fan."

But while Bishop Farrell can be drawn into local sports talk, he goes out of his way to say how much he appreciates the friendliness, religious faith and cultural diversity he has encountered here.

The pope sent him. It sounds as if the pope would have to drag him away.

"I have found an America that I like a lot in Dallas," Bishop Farrell said.