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	Sex-Abuse Victims Rip Promotion for Pastor By Natalie Sherman Boston Herald January 15, 2011 http://news.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view/20110115sex-abuse_victims_rip_promotion_for_pastor/ The controversial spokesman for the Boston archdiocese during the sex-abuse scandal has been promoted to auxiliary bishop in Indianapolis, the Catholic Church announced yesterday. The Rev. Christopher J. Coyne, 52, was spokesman from 2002-2005, during the height of the scandal and during hotly debated church closings. In 2005, he replaced a popular Newton priest at Our Lady of Help of Christians, serving only six months before the uproar over his appointment among parishioners caused him to seek reassignment. Since 2006, he has served as pastor of St. Margaret Mary in Westwood. At a press conference yesterday in Indianapolis, Coyne said the controversies taught him the "need to listen to what is being said with an open heart and an open mind." "I need to learn how to be a bishop, a good bishop for the faithful and the clergy of this great archdiocese," he said. "I pledge myself today to the service of God's people here in (the archdiocese) and I hope over time to become a true son of Indiana." Cardinal Bernard F. Law resigned in 2002 after court papers revealed his role in covering up the widespread sex abuse within the Boston archdiocese. Abuse survivors groups said the pope's appointment sent the wrong message to priests about how to handle sex-abuse cases. "There are literally tens of thousands of priests in America who . . . could have gotten this promotion. Almost never in this institution are those who ignored or concealed child sex crimes punished in any way," said David Clohessy, executive director of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests. "When people say, 'Why is this stuff still going on? Why have things not changed?' That's the simple answer — because there are no consequences for ignoring or concealing sex crimes." Archdiocese of Indianapolis spokesman Greg Otolski said that response didn't "make any sense." "He was asked to take on the role of spokesman and from what I've seen, he did it with a lot of grace and without spinning anything," Otolski said. "I just don't think that carries any water." Coyne is the first auxiliary bishop to be appointed to the Ind- ianapolis archdiocese since 1933. A spokesman for Indianapolis Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein said the archbishop met Coyne for the first time Thursday and that the Boston priest would be helping with the day-to-day management of the archdiocese. In the last three years, the 72-year-old Buechlein has suffered a string of health problems, including a diagnosis of Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Retired Marian University professor Jim Divita said Coyne's connection to the sex- abuse scandal was not yet a focus in Indianapolis, but some were still questioning the appointment. "I think the reaction here is more along the lines of why our present vicar general (Msgr. Joseph F. Schaedel) was not made auxiliary bishop," retired Marian University professor Jim Divita said. "The vicar general has done all of the things that your man from Boston will be doing and he has 16 years of doing it." Coyne will be installed in a ceremony March 2. Boston Cardinal Sean O'Malley praised the appointment in a statement, saying Buechlein was "blessed" to have Coyne as his aide. Through a spokesman, he declined to comment further.
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