Journal Gazette
November 17, 2009
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20091117/EDIT07/311179942/0/FRONTPAGE
 |
| Bishop John D’Arcy speaks at Notre Dame’s Baccalaureate Mass in South Bend on May 16. D’Arcy’s successor was named Saturday. |
Over the last quarter-century, Bishop John D’Arcy was the authoritative, sometimes controversial leader of one of the nation’s key Catholic dioceses. His retirement and the appointment of Bishop Kevin Rhoades as his replacement mark a changing of the guard in one of the most important community positions in northeast Indiana.
D’Arcy will be remembered for being accessible and clear in confronting significant issues facing the church, earning wide admiration for forcefully addressing child molestation scandals and generating controversy over his reaction to social issues and challenges to academic freedom.
Rather than hide or transfer priests known to molest children, D’Arcy insisted they be released from the priesthood. In a remarkable admission, D’Arcy announced in 2003 that since 1950, 17 priests in the diocese had molested an estimated 33 people.
To his credit, D’Arcy’s commitment to protecting children and other parishioners from promiscuous and predator priests began before the national scandal that engulfed the church.
Records made available from a landmark legal case involving the Boston diocese showed that D’Arcy, serving as an auxiliary bishop in Massachusetts before being named bishop for the Fort Wayne-South Bend Roman Catholic Diocese, had warned of problem priests and recommended action against them.
D’Arcy was adamant in reinforcing the church’s policy against both abortion and the death penalty, earning praise and scorn from conservatives and liberals. His willingness to step into controversies at the University of Notre Dame – particularly this year when the university honored President Obama – raised significant questions about the church’s proper role in the governance of Catholic universities.
And the bishop drew heat for his opposition to an appearance at the University of Saint Francis by Dr. Nancy Snyderman – for a fairly innocuous comment the medical correspondent made while reporting a story – leading to the university to cancel the invitation at the last minute.
With Notre Dame and four other Catholic universities in the diocese, as well as the home of the Our Sunday Visitor publishing house and 57,000 Roman Catholic households, the diocese is especially important to the church.
If D’Arcy drew controversy for some of his decisions, others brought widespread support. The Vincent House shelter for homeless families was created under his watch, and when a fire destroyed the historic St. Marys Church in Fort Wayne, he made sure it was rebuilt in a smaller form while continuing its soup kitchen that feeds numerous people in the city daily.
D’Arcy warrants acclaim for consistently and frankly stating his position on controversial . We wish D’Arcy well in his retirement and welcome Bishop Rhoades to the diocese.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.