By Peter Smith
The Courier-Journal
October 3, 2011
http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20111002/NEWS01/310030020/Archbishop-Joseph-Kurtz-s-star-rising?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Local%20News
[with video]
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| Archbishop Joseph Kurtz (center) helps hold a $125,000.00 check presented at half time to the Catholic Education Foundation, Inc. Sept. 30, 2011 |
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| Archbishop Joseph Kurtz (center) helps hold a $125,000.00 check presented at half time to the Catholic Education Foundation, Inc. Sept. 30, 2011 / David Lee Hartlage/Special to the Courier-Journal |
Breaking ground for a new parish building. Striding in the annual Hunger Walk. Greeting fans at the Trinity-St. Xavier high school football game. Insisting that any merger involving Catholic hospitals live up to church health care morals.
Louisville Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz has been outgoing, out front and outspoken in the four-plus years since he became the spiritual leader of nearly 200,000 mid-Kentucky Roman Catholics.
But one thing he doesn't want to speak about is growing speculation about his future job prospects — something on the minds of many local Catholics who have been following his rising national profile.
Kurtz. 65, is seen as a leading candidate for archbishop in a major American city, with possible promotion to the exclusive rank of cardinal.
"In church circles, he's widely seen as a comer," said John Allen, longtime Vatican watcher with the National Catholic Reporter. "I don't mean that he's personally ambitious necessarily, but he's the kind of guy the system would promote."
And in fact, it already has.
The son of a coal miner and the grandson of East European immigrants, Kurtz was ordained in 1972 and worked as a pastor and social-service director in Allentown, Pa. He was ordained bishop of Knoxville, Tenn., in 1999 and came to Louisville in 2007, becoming spiritual leader of Catholics in 24 Central Kentucky counties.
While many people are winding down their careers at his age, the energetic Kurtz continues to rise in prominence.
Locally, he has drawn attention in recent weeks because his approval would be needed for a controversial merger in the works among University Hospital, Jewish Hospital & St. Mary's HealthCare and various Catholic hospitals in Kentucky under majority ownership of the Catholic Health Initiatives corporation.
Kurtz insists that hospitals that are part of the deal must adhere to church moral teachings, including bans on sterilization and abortion.
The merger has sparked fears that uninsured, low-income women who rely on University Hospital, the area's health care safety net, could lose access to some reproductive services at University, particularly tubal ligations in conjunction with Caesarean sections.
Kurtz unapologetically says anything identified as a "Catholic ministry" needs to live up to that label.
Kurtz's fellow bishops elected him in November 2010 to a three-year term as vice president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
The vote came a day after he gave an impassioned speech to the bishops on defending traditional marriage. That speech culminated his former role as the bishops' national spokesman against same-sex marriage.
He repeatedly has spoken against "unjust discrimination against homosexual persons" but also said redefining marriage "reduces the relationship of husband and wife to one of only relative importance rather than a relationship that is fundamental to the existence and well-being of society as a whole."
His vice presidency establishes Kurtz as a leading candidate in 2013 for conference president.
"He's well-liked," Allen said. "Secondly, he's seen as solidly orthodox."
Kurtz has said that he believes that "God's calling me to be the archbishop here" and that he doesn't like to indulge in speculation about major appointments — made by the pope in consultation with trusted aides behind closed doors.
Only a handful of large U.S. archdioceses fit the "red hat" mold — where archbishops are typically promoted to cardinal, giving them a say in choosing and advising popes.
Many church observers speculated that Kurtz, a Pennsylvania native, would land in one of those, and be named head of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia earlier this year. Pope Benedict XVI instead selected Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput.
Now speculation about Kurtz has shifted to the 2.3 million-member Archdiocese of Chicago, where Cardinal Francis George turns 75 next year, the age at which bishops must offer their retirement to the Vatican. The smaller but historically significant Baltimore archdiocese also has a vacancy.
The Rev. Thomas Reese, a Georgetown University expert on the church hierarchy, said bishops like Chaput or Kurtz differ only slightly in "degrees of conservatism and the style in which they operate."
Kurtz is firm on following Vatican directives on doctrine and liturgy. But he also fits the mold of a "smiling conservative," Reese said. He compared him with New York's Archbishop Timothy Dolan, who is "very gracious but still holds the same positions" as a more pugnacious cleric like Chaput, who has not hesitated to call out Catholic politicians who dissent from church teachings on abortion.
Both types of bishops, Reese noted, have received major appointments, and Chaput came in second to Kurtz in 2010 balloting among fellow bishops for vice president of their conference.
Kurtz said he fully supports Dolan, president of the bishops' conference, calling him a strong example of speaking in a respectful, yet "forthright and courageous way."
Kurtz, meanwhile, keeps busy with local as well as national events.
Late Thursday, he visited two suburban Jefferson County parishes, helping break ground for a new sanctuary at St. Michael Church and dedicating a large new mural at St. Gabriel.
"This is a man of the times," said St. Michael parishioner Charles Freville, 74, as Kurtz mingled with the crowd. "He is always up to date on what's going on, and he never seems to forget a name."
On Friday, Kurtz took part in a half-time presentation at the Trinity-St. X game — the local Catholic super bowl at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium — in support of the Catholic Education Foundation, which provides tuition assistance to students.
Recent and upcoming events on Kurtz's calendar include public talks on marriage in New York and Minnesota, meeting with Canadian bishops, and participating in liturgies honoring Hispanic and African-American Catholic heritage. He has used his drive time for such things as listening to CDs of revised liturgical prayers.
"I've wondered how he does it all, but he does, and it's because he loves to be with people," said the Rev. Jeffrey Gatlin, priest at Most Blessed Sacrament and SS. Simon and Jude parishes. "He's got the pastoral side, he's got the social-work side, he's got the management side. Those are rare gift sets."
He said when Kurtz assigned him to the two southern Louisville parishes earlier this year, rather than saying, "You're going to do this," the archbishop asked him to think and pray about the assignment before responding. "That was very powerful to me," Gatlin said.
Judy Bullock, director of the archdiocese's Office of Worship, said Kurtz stays well-informed, collaborates with lay staff workers and responds quickly by email.
"I hate to hear talk about him leaving," she said. "I'm holding my breath every time they make a major announcement" of an appointment.
Kurtz said highlights of his Louisville tenure include an increase in men entering the priesthood, a series of ongoing classes called "Why Catholic?" attended by thousands and celebration of the archdiocese's 200th anniversary in 2008.
"If there's any time for anyone to come as a new bishop, this is perfect because everybody's recalling their roots and history," he said.
Kurtz said he tries to spend a day each month on retreat at the rural Abbey of Gethsemani in Trappist, Ky.
Kurtz says he loves living next to the downtown Cathedral of the Assumption, waking to church bells, walking or jogging along the Ohio River, and golfing at Shawnee Park.
While he is praised by many close to him, Kurtz does have critics.
Cal Pfeiffer, a member of the local chapter of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said he believes Kurtz has delegated too much of the handling of sexual-abuse policies to staff. "There doesn't seem to be any leadership" on it, Pfeiffer said.
The group cites cases under Kurtz's watch, such as a parish where a former volunteer had a rape conviction and where a priest, the Rev. James Schook, was allowed to reside for several months even while under investigation for sexual-abuse allegations that led to criminal charges.
Kurtz said he's committed to policies of removing abusers from the priesthood, and he took that step in Schook's case in 2010. He has also cited the archdiocese's training of thousands of workers in detecting and preventing abuse.
"We hope and pray that the efforts we're taking will protect children," he said.
Helen Deines, a retired Spalding University social work professor active in local church matters, said Kurtz was "overly harsh about gay issues" in repeated comments against same-sex marriage.
Even with that stance, "I wish he could support a fairness ordinance statewide" banning discrimination based on sexual orientation in such areas as jobs and housing, something she doesn't believe would influence church doctrine or practice.
But Deines has come to admire Kurtz in other ways.
She said she was volunteering at the Franciscan Shelter House when he visited the Preston Street meal program, wiped tables and chatted with the homeless clients.
"He wasn't there preaching to them. He was there talking to them about sports or politics or their families," she said.
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