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	Bettencourt to Apologize to Bishop in Private By Karen Langley Concord Monitor April 5, 2011 http://www.concordmonitor.com/article/249570/bettencourt-to-apologize-to-bishop-in-private House Majority Leader D.J. Bettencourt said he will meet with Bishop John McCormack on Thursday to apologize for his choice of words in criticizing the leader of the state's Catholics. On Friday morning, Bettencourt wrote on his Facebook page that McCormack was a "pedophile pimp" who should have been led in handcuffs from a rally last Thursday against cuts to social services. McCormack told demonstrators the House budget proposal did not fulfill a fundamental responsibility to care for the poor. "My feelings on the underlying issue are still strong, but I certainly should have comported myself in a better fashion and been far more diplomatic," Bettencourt said yesterday in an interview. "My remarks and my characterization was unbecoming of proper political discourse in New Hampshire." Bettencourt, a Republican from Salem, said he has arranged a private meeting with McCormack for Thursday at the bishop's office in Manchester. Bettencourt said he intends to apologize for "inartful, undiplomatic remarks," but that the remainder of the conversation will be private. Kevin Donovan, a spokesman for the Diocese of Manchester, said the bishop is happy to meet with Bettencourt. In a letter written to the bishop Saturday, Bettencourt, who is Catholic, wrote that his comments were not intended as an attack on the Catholic faith, the Catholic Church or the office of bishop. Instead, Bettencourt wrote, his comments reflected his feelings toward McCormack himself, because of the bishop's history regarding the sexual abuse scandal. Before becoming the state's bishop in 1998, McCormack served in Boston as an aide to Cardinal Bernard Law. Among McCormack's responsibilities was responding to complaints against priests. After the sexual abuse scandal broke, McCormack was accused of doing too little to protect children from abusive priests, and there were calls for him to resign. In his letter Saturday, Bettencourt wrote that he welcomes citizens to share their opinions at the State House. "But to be criticized for failing to protect those who are 'vulnerable' by someone with your own history of protecting the vulnerable was more than I could stomach," Bettencourt wrote. "It reignited all the feelings that I have worked to control in seeing that damage to the Church that this scandal created." Bettencourt wrote that it would be "a much-needed new chapter" for Catholics in New Hampshire when the Vatican accepts McCormack's retirement "and we can bring new leadership to the church that is untainted by the past abuses." Yesterday, the president of the Catholic League, an organization that defends the Church against defamation, said he was contacting every House lawmaker to ask that they pass a resolution censuring Bettencourt. "This kind of incivility has no legitimate role to play in public life," Bill Donohue said in a statement. Over the weekend, Gov. John Lynch asked Bettencourt to retract his comments. Yesterday, a group of four House Democrats, all Catholics, wrote a letter to House Speaker William O'Brien asking him to condemn Bettencourt's remarks about the bishop. O'Brien, who previously had said he shared Bettencourt's concerns but did not agree with his language, issued a statement praising Bettencourt for his comments yesterday. "Representatives need to hold themselves to a higher standard," O'Brien said. "I commend Representative Bettencourt for doing so and leading by example today by taking full responsibility and accountability for the language he used." State Republican Chairman Jack Kimball, who said he did not share Bettencourt's sentiment, also praised the majority leader yesterday. "I am very pleased to see that D.J. Bettencourt has apologized for the terms he used regarding Bishop McCormack," Kimball said in a statement. "I am further encouraged that he has requested a meeting with the Bishop and look forward to a resolution of this unfortunate matter." Contact: klangley@cmonitor.com
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