Archbishop Talks Frankly about Pain and Joy of His 16-Year Tenure, by Christopher Burbach, World-Herald, February 15, 2009

Archbishop Talks Frankly about Pain and Joy of His 16-Year Tenure

By Christopher Burbach
World-Herald
February 15, 2009

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=2798&u_sid=10564729

Archbishop Elden Francis Curtiss has led the 225,000 Roman Catholics of northeast Nebraska through a painful time for the church, but he's smiling and feeling optimistic as he faces retirement after 16 years at the helm in Omaha.

Word could be coming soon from Rome on a replacement for Curtiss, the most prominent religious leader in Nebraska. He submitted his resignation, as required, when he turned 75 almost two years ago.

The sometimes controversial archbishop doesn't know when Pope Benedict XVI will announce a new prelate. But he agreed to a rare sit-down interview with The World-Herald last week to look back on his career.

Archbishop Elden Francis Curtiss, the most prominent spiritual leader in Nebraska for 16 years, is approaching the end of his assignment with the Archdiocese of Omaha. When his replacement is announced - and that may be soon - Curtiss will retire in Omaha.

Curtiss talked in frank terms about his Omaha years - the good times and the bad:

• He and other bishops "learned the hard way" about clergy sex abuse. He said he was shocked and will always be bothered by the abuse. But he believes that the church is "better now for having gone through this purification," and that safeguards such as laity review boards and safe environment training for those who work with children will prevent future abuse. "There's no child more safe in this archdiocese than in Catholic institutions right now."

• He'll leave the archdiocese financially stronger than when he arrived in 1993 and encountered a $9 million debt. "It took me years, until just last year, to pay off the debt. . . . But I've hacked away at the debt and it's gone now."

• His directive that people who publicly disagree with church teachings may not serve in parish ministry has had an effect. "People who were in serious dissent have sort of walked away from ministry. And we've strengthened the programs . . . to make sure that nobody comes into ministry that isn't in sync with the teachings of the church. I've done that deliberately."

• He has tried to balance preparing for growth - he acquired several sites for future schools and parishes in the suburbs - with keeping inner city parishes and schools alive, while also building up services for the poor.

Elden Francis Curtiss

Born: June 16, 1932, Baker City, Ore.

Education: Master of divinity at the now-closed St. Edward Seminary in Kenmore, Wash.; master of arts, University of Portland, Ore.

Ordained as priest: May 24, 1958, Diocese of Baker, Ore.

Oregon career: Served in three parishes, as superintendent of schools for the Diocese of Baker and as president and rector of Mount Angel Seminary, in St. Benedict, Ore.

Ordained bishop of Helena, Mont.: April 28, 1976

Appointed archbishop of Omaha: May 4, 1993

Installed as Omaha archbishop: June 25, 1993

Other roles include: Member of Pontifical Council for the Family, president and board chairman of Catholic Mutual Group insurance company.

As bishop: Has ordained 65 priests and 138 permanent deacons.

• He loves Omaha. His family lives in Oregon, but he's staying here when he retires. The archdiocese spent $389,000 to buy and renovate a home for Curtiss when he retires.

The archbishop has a sense of humor, which friends and golfing companions know, but the public rarely sees. Speaking about Omahans' generosity, Curtiss said a prominent Catholic once told him, "You know, Archbishop, I'd be really rich if it wasn't for the church." Curtiss jokingly replied, "Sure, yeah, that's how you save your soul."

He said his best memories will be confirmations, parish celebrations, ordinations and all sorts of anniversaries - pastoral events that brought him close to the people.

It's probably easier for Curtiss to smile looking back at his Omaha career near the end than it was looking ahead at the beginning. He had a rocky start after landing in Nebraska from Helena, Mont., in 1993.

Curtiss said he was surprised to find the Omaha Archdiocese was in debt. The red ink included $4 million in high school closing and renovation costs from the 1980s, unbudgeted capital campaign expenses, and cost overruns for the construction of Skutt High School.

Curtiss took quick steps. He is not "one to dillydally around."

"There was no sugarcoating what had to be done upon my arrival," Curtiss said. "There were some tough financial issues that had to be addressed. I was willing to make some hard decisions because I knew that the people of this archdiocese had a history of supporting and rallying behind their archbishops."

He warned struggling parishes to pay their archdiocesan taxes. He insisted that Cathedral High School and its parish resolve their own debt problems or close the high school. It closed.

Meanwhile, Curtiss spent $950,000 on what he defended as needed repairs and renovations to the chancery, the archdiocesan headquarters.

And he decided to hold back some money that had been promised to parishes in an educational capital campaign launched by Curtiss' predecessor, Archbishop Daniel E. Sheehan.

Under intense criticism, Curtiss reversed his decision and released the parish money.

"Perhaps in hindsight I could have done a better job at communicating some of the necessary changes," he said. "But I believe that when people got to know me better and the extent of the problems we faced, they began to appreciate my management philosophy to address issues efficiently and plan for the future."

Judy Tamisea said she saw that dynamic during the 10 years she worked for Curtiss as the archdiocese's development director.

"When people got to be around him, they felt much differently about him," she said.

And he supported good ideas for the good of the people, Tamisea said. She cited the creation of the local Children's Scholarship Fund and the Catholic Outreach for Education, an advisory board helping nine eastern Omaha schools.

Under Curtiss, the archdiocese opened three parishes, built four churches and five schools, and bought a youth camp.

He credited the generosity of Nebraskans. Weekly Sunday giving to parishes nearly doubled between 1993 and today.

In the 1990s, Curtiss also made it clear that a new theological sheriff was in town.

In his first year, he said he would monitor Catholic teaching at Creighton University and other institutions, a warning that professors shouldn't stray from official church positions.

In 1996, he sent a letter to all parishes, saying that Catholics in the archdiocese could not teach, administer Holy Communion or serve on parish councils if they publicly differed with church teachings on abortion, euthanasia or the ordination of women.

Curtiss has clashed with Creighton academics on occasion. Perhaps the most notable occasion happened in 2007. The director of the Creighton Center for Marriage and Family, Michael G. Lawler, co-authored an essay in U.S. Catholic magazine that said unmarried Catholic couples should be allowed to live together if they planned to get married.

Curtiss wrote a response in which he denounced the article and severed the archdiocese's ties with the center.

"If teachers get off track publicly . . . I don't go looking for trouble, but if it becomes public, and what they're teaching is not consistent with the teaching of the church, somebody has to point that out," Curtiss said. "And it needs to be the archbishop, the head of the diocese."

Lawler, professor emeritus at Creighton, declined to comment last week.

Russell Reno, a Creighton theology professor and nationally known conservative theologian, said Curtiss has used the bully pulpit well in his relations with the university and other institutions.

Reno said the archbishop's style is somewhat opposite of the old Teddy Roosevelt slogan. Curtiss "speaks loudly, and carries a small stick," Reno said.

With regard to Creighton - a university independent of the archdiocese - Curtiss' biggest weapon would be taking away Creighton's right to call itself Catholic.

"I think he realizes that doing that would only embolden those who don't want it to be Catholic," Reno said.

Most recently, Curtiss sent his parishes a letter just before the November election. Without mentioning names, he strongly implied that Catholics should not vote for Barack Obama because of his position on abortion.

Curtiss said it is a bishop's job to correctly teach the faith. He mainly does that through his sermons; his column in the Catholic Voice, the archdiocese's official newspaper; and his talk show on local Catholic radio station KVSS.

Still, sometimes he has had "to correct," Curtiss said.

He would prefer to do that quietly, he said, but he doesn't back away when an issue becomes public.

"I don't seek that, but when it is, it is, and that's my position, the position of the church," Curtiss said. "And if you don't like it, well, I'm sorry, that's the position of the church."

But he tries to keep the lines of communication open to allow discussion and press his point, but he does not often turn to formal discipline.

The Rev. Ken Vavrina has seen that firsthand. Pastor of two inner city churches, Vavrina has not shied away from questioning Catholic hierarchy. In January, he wrote a letter to The World-Herald saying that he had voted for Obama.

That earned Vavrina a talking-to from his boss. Vavrina said they parted amicably, and always have, and that Curtiss never held his differences with Vavrina against his parishioners.

Vavrina recently encountered Curtiss at breakfast during a clergy conference.

"There's a rumor," Vavrina said to nearby priests, "that the archbishop is going to make me a monsignor."

Curtiss joined the laughter at the idea that Vavrina would receive such an honorary title.

"I might, if it weren't for those letters to the editor," Curtiss quipped.

Letters were at the center of a controversy that erupted in 2002. It was at that time that public criticism of Curtiss peaked over the priest sex abuse scandal.

Many Nebraskans, Catholic and otherwise, were upset with how Curtiss handled the case of a Norfolk, Neb., priest caught looking at child pornography on the Internet in 2001.

Curtiss quietly reassigned the priest, Robert Allgaier, to a Ralston church. But a Catholic kindergarten teacher in Norfolk reported the priest to police.

Allgaier eventually was convicted of attempting to possess child pornography and is no longer in ministry.

Curtiss told the kindergarten teacher she shouldn't have reported the matter to police, and should resign. Curtiss later apologized to the teacher and said she had been right to call police.

Then he sent letters to local Catholics who had criticized him in The World-Herald's Public Pulse, rebuking them.

Curtiss eventually apologized for his letters - he even vowed to say a rosary as penance.

That same year, Curtiss urged U.S. bishops to issue a formal apology for their role in the church's sex abuse scandal.

Nationally, the scandal began to emerge while Curtiss was bishop of Helena, then blew up during his time in Omaha.

He said bishops "learned the hard way" that "a real pedophile" can't be cured and must be removed from ministry.

In the 1970s in Montana, Curtiss reassigned a priest, Wilson Smart, to parish duty after sending him for alcohol treatment.

Information later surfaced that Smart had molested more than 30 boys between 1957 and 1978. Curtiss told Montana Catholics that when he reassigned Smart, he had not read reports in Smart's file about his attraction to boys.

Curtiss apologized to Montana Catholics. Last week, Curtiss reiterated that reassigning the priest had been a mistake, but that experts had OK'd it.

The Omaha Archdiocese reported in 2004 that 11 priests and one deacon who had worked in the archdiocese had been accused of sexual abuse since 1952.

In all, sex abuse claims have cost the archdiocese $2.8 million in legal costs, settlements and counseling for victims.

"My heart goes out to the young people who were victimized," Curtiss said. "I prayed for them then, and still do now."

Curtiss said the church is moving forward.

He said he will tell his successor that the local Catholic community and schools are strong.

"They're great, generous people, and they'll work with you if you're open to them and will listen, they will help you," Curtiss said. "You will be watched and criticized, and you can't be too thin skinned. Take things in perspective, stick to your guns and do what's right and teach what the church teaches and enjoy yourself."

Curtiss said he has tried to do that himself.

"I don't lose sleep at night over issues," he said. "I go into the chapel and say, 'Lord, it's your church, you take care of it. I'm going to bed.' And He does."

• Contact the writer: 444-1057, christopher.burbach@owh.com