By Rosa Salter Rodriguez
The Journal Gazette
November 22, 2009
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20091122/FEAT/311229891
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| Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades was named bishop of the Fort Wayne-South Bend Roman Catholic Diocese on Nov. 14. Rhoades will be installed Jan. 13. Photo by Clint Keller | The Journal Gazette |
Bob O’Hara recalls being told, shortly after the Rev. Kevin C. Rhoades was named bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg (Pa.), that the new bishop had accepted an invitation to be the featured guest on a local call-in radio show.
It made O’Hara, executive director of the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference, nervous.
"I didn’t know how he was going to handle it," he says.
Turns out, O’Hara needn’t have worried.
"He’s a natural," O’Hara says of Rhoades, 51. "I could tell just from his answers. He gave (the callers) good answers – straight answers, from-the-heart answers. He came across great."
That’s the verdict from many who know the Fort Wayne-South Bend Roman Catholic Diocese’s incoming bishop, who the Vatican announced last week will succeed retiring Bishop John M. D’Arcy. Rhoades will be installed Jan. 13.
Those who know him call Rhoades a great communicator with an unfailingly pastoral manner and a sound grounding in theology. They say he has the ability to shoot straight when it comes to taking stands that conform to church teachings on controversial matters. But he’s also diplomatic enough to choose his battles carefully – and fight them gracefully.
In his last five years as bishop of the 16-county diocese in central Pennsylvania and president of the politically powerful Pennsylvania Catholic Conference, there were skirmishes involving abortion protests, a potentially divisive move by a city high school to the suburbs and the lingering effects of sexual abuse by priests.
Rhoades has come through mostly unscathed.
"He’s very friendly and easy to talk to," says Sister Mary Anne Bednar, principal of Harrisburg’s Bishop McDevitt High School. Rhoades recently approved the school’s building project and move from the center city, after gaining consensus among alumni who first didn’t like the change.
Criticism on abuse
Born and baptized in Mahanoy City in eastern Pennsylvania’s anthracite coal region, Rhoades comes from a family with political gifts.
Last year, he officiated at the funeral of his cousin, state Sen. James Rhoades, a well-respected Republican legislator from eastern Pennsylvania for 27 years and chairman of the Senate’s powerful Education Committee.
As a child, Rhoades’ parents, who are now deceased, moved southwest to Lebanon, which at the time was largely rural and is still known as Pennsylvania Dutch Country because of its Amish and Mennonite culture.
When he was named bishop of Harrisburg on Oct. 14, 2004, it was a case of local boy makes good – he was to lead the diocese as one of the youngest U.S. bishops, according to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
The timing of Rhoades’ appointment was fortunate, says Kevin Bagatta, a Harrisburg attorney. Problems with sex abuse by priests were largely behind the diocese, he says.
"Our diocese was blessed in that regard. Our diocese had taken care of that years earlier, and our diocese was really less affected," he says, adding that former Harrisburg Bishop Nicholas C. Dattilo "was zero tolerance (for abusers) early on, to his credit. That was his policy way before the U.S. bishops conference required it."
In April, the diocese said it had received an allegation about a priest who died in 1999. A separate allegation against a former priest who was not under diocesan supervision, but who served in the diocese, was received two or three years ago, said Joseph Aponick, diocese spokesman. In 2004, the diocese reported 35 allegations against 22 priests from 1950 until February 2004. In 2007, it released a statement that six victims and family members remained in treatment.
But some are not so sanguine about Rhoades’ role. Anne Doyle, co-director of BishopAccountability.org, which tracks priests publicly accused of sexual abuse, finds the low number of allegations that surfaced during Rhoades’ tenure "unusual" given the diocese’s size. The organization lists six publicly accused priests in the Harrisburg diocese.
"What it’s saying to me is that he’s suppressed allegations or hasn’t acted or has created an environment that it wasn’t easy for victims to come forward," she says, adding she wonders what happened to victims of the 16 other accused priests.
It’s disappointing, Doyle says, that Rhoades has not followed the lead of the Rev. William Keeler, for whom Rhoades worked as chancellor in 1988 while Keeler was bishop of the Harrisburg diocese. Keeler, now a cardinal, made public the names of credibly accused priests while he was archbishop of Baltimore.
"He (Rhoades) had this mentor who stands out as an example of transparency. He did not do the same thing at all," she says.
Aponick says it’s "protocol" in the diocese not to list names.
"We have been blessed that there has been very little of this (abuse) here. The diocese has been very tough on this issue, and the independent audits have confirmed this over the years." All staff and volunteers who work with youths are "properly trained and have been screened" since around 2003, he says.
David Clohessy, national director of the Survivors Network, says the number of allegations might also have to do with Pennsylvania’s statute of limitations, which he called "terrible" for sexual abuse victims.
"We’re more than a bit worried about Bishop Rhoades," he says. "He was head of the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference, which lobbied vigorously … against (and defeated) a sorely needed reform."
O’Hara says the presidency of the conference is automatic for Harrisburg bishops. He says Rhoades did not engage in heavy lobbying and was never chosen to testify before a legislative committee. But Rhoades did provide direction and policy assistance on issues such as poverty, abortion and same-sex marriage.
Stephen Drachler – a lobbyist for United Methodist Witness, a social-justice advocacy group founded by Pennsylvania’s Methodist bishops and a former longtime Harrisburg reporter – calls the Catholic conference "a powerhouse" in terms of influence.
"When they speak, people listen. They’re one of the reasons Pennsylvania is such a strong anti-choice place and socially conservative on a number of issues. … When they choose to put their full force behind an issue, either supporting or opposing it, (it) makes a difference."
Rocco Palmo of Philadelphia, author of Whispers in the Loggia, a popular blog on the Catholic Church hierarchy, says Rhoades "has not been a political heavy in Harrisburg." He adds: "Any statements he has made on the church’s behalf have been very quiet and gentle."
Rhoades, who was elected chairman of the Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth at the fall meeting of the U.S. bishops conference in Baltimore last week, is widely seen as being groomed for bigger roles within the church, Palma says. Rhoades’ schedule did not permit him to be interviewed last week, Aponick says.
Non-confrontational way
Rhoades tends to speak about potentially divisive or political matters in a non-confrontational manner or in a pastoral context, observers say.
In October, which is Respect Life Month in the U.S. Catholic Church, Rhoades brought a group of parishioners to pray the rosary outside a Planned Parenthood clinic in York, Pa., that performs abortions.
The vigil was also a way of dealing with a pesky situation.
A group of regular protesters had included a man wearing vestments who appeared to be a Catholic priest. He verbally harassed clinic staff and clients, says Suellen Craig, a Fort Wayne native who is president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Central Pennsylvania.
"He was pretty vile," she says.
When a local newspaper wrote about the protester, Rhoades issued a statement saying the man and his church were not affiliated with the diocese.
The vigil Rhoades led was done with a permit and was "very quiet," Craig says. "It didn’t interfere with anyone entering or leaving our property. That’s well within their rights to do that, and we honor their belief, although we don’t share it."
Scott Hahn, who holds the Pope Benedict XVI chair of biblical theology at the Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio, says he saw Rhoades in action as Rhoades dealt with a lay blogger appearing to speak for Catholicism. He declined to provide specifics but said Rhoades "handled it very well. I saw such wisdom there."
Meeting with media when he was named bishop of the Fort Wayne-South Bend Diocese on Nov. 14, Rhoades said he expects to consult closely with D’Arcy in getting to know the diocese.
Outreach efforts
If Rhoades follows in his Harrisburg footsteps, he’s likely to unveil new initiatives and forge a special relationship with Hispanics.
He studied Spanish in Spain and worked with three Spanish-speaking congregations. He has posted information on the Harrisburg diocese’s Web site in English and Spanish.
"I am sorry to see him go because he took a very good position on immigration, and not too long ago he had a big Mass in the cathedral in Harrisburg that was an all-Spanish Mass that was dedicated to welcoming Spanish-speaking people, of which I am one," says Lorenzo Canizares, 62, who is Cuban. "There were Masses in Spanish before, but with him there is more acceptance by the overall community."
Rhoades has also begun an active ministry to the deaf and other people with disabilities, says Ginny Duncan, who heads a new disabilities office. He can finger-spell, encouraged a priest to become fluent in sign language and has included special-needs parishioners in visible roles within Masses while making them feel at home.
"I know it’s politically correct to talk about doing things for people with disabilities," she says. "But he has a real heart for it."
She, Bagatta and Bednar all point to Rhoades’ ability to encourage young men to enter the priesthood as his greatest accomplishment. The diocese now has 27 men studying for the priesthood, up from 11 when Rhoades became bishop, Aponick says.
Contact: rsalter@jg.net
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