Lori Viewed As Top Candidate for Baltimore Post, by Michael P. Mayko, CT Post, November 7, 2011

Lori Viewed As Top Candidate for Baltimore Post

By Michael P. Mayko
CT Post
November 7, 2011

http://www.ctpost.com/local/article/Lori-viewed-as-top-candidate-for-Baltimore-post-2257191.php

Bishop William Lori poses for a photo in the chapel at the Catholic Center in Bridgeport, Conn. in March of 2010. Photo: ST, Autumn Driscoll / Connecticut Post | Buy This Photo

Bishop William E. Lori, who led the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport through a sexual abuse scandal left behind by his predecessor, is seen as a strong contender for the prestigious archbishop's post in Baltimore that became vacant this summer.

Lori, the 60-year-old leader of the Bridgeport diocese since March 2001, has taken an increasingly prominent role among U.S. bishops.

He helped write the Dallas Policy, also known as the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, which set a zero-tolerance policy in 2002 for abusive priests, fought off a proposed state law to place control of parishes in the hands of laymen and testified before Congress last week on the need for religious liberty.

"We've all heard the rumors," said Brian D. Wallace, spokesman for the Bridgeport diocese. "But at this point we have not heard anything official from the Vatican."

Still Wallace said it would not surprise anyone in the diocese "who knows or works with Bishop Lori" if he receives the appointment.

"This is an enormously capable man who has done a great job here and is gathering a national profile for his work on religious freedom," Wallace said.

A source familiar with diocesan affairs said that, in some quarters, Lori is viewed as the clear favorite for the job.

Lori, who is currently at the Vatican, could not be reached for comment. But Wallace warned against drawing any conclusions from the bishop's travel.

Wallace said Lori is there, along with other Catholic bishops from the Northeast, as part of their required five-year Ad Limina visit, in which dioceses present reports on their financial, sacramental and communal status.

The Bridgeport diocese, which spans Fairfield County, includes about 460,000 Roman Catholics.

For Lori, viewed as a conservative cleric and respected for carrying out church mandates in controversial instances, a Baltimore appointment would be somewhat of a homecoming.

On May 14, 1977, Lori, a native of Kentucky, was ordained a priest in Washington. His first assignment was as an associate pastor at St. Joseph's Parish in Landover, Md.

He also served as an auxiliary bishop in Washington, received his master's degree from Mount Saint Mary's Seminary in Emmitsburg, Md., in 1977 and his doctorate in sacred theology from the Catholic University of America in Washington in 1982.

"I've heard his name floated around when there were vacancies in Philadelphia and New York," acknowledged Rev. Thomas Reese, coordinator of the religion and public policy program at Georgetown University's Woodstock Theological Center. "It seems whenever any major archdiocese becomes vacant, his name pops up."

Reese believes Lori's youth, conservative attitudes and respect within the Catholic church's hierarchy makes him a perennial candidate.

"They wouldn't send just anyone to address Congress," Reese said. "They wouldn't want someone stumbling and bumbling around."

On Oct. 26, just a month after Lori was appointed to chair the Bishop's Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Freedom, he found himself sitting before the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on the Constitution. There, Lori strongly advocated correcting action on several federal regulations involving same sex marriages, distribution of anti-pregnancy devices and reducing the ministerial exception exempting religious institutions from civil law involving hiring and firing.

"Speculation that he is a favorite wouldn't surprise me," said Terry McKiernan, director of BishopAccountability.org. which maintains a library of the Catholic priest sexual abuse scandal. "He took the hot potato left behind by Bishop Edward Egan and put as good a face as the Catholic church could want on it. Lori did what the Catholic church needed to do," which he said included delaying the public release of court documents.

"He's young, reasonably smart and he's handled some difficult assignments," McKiernan said. "He's performed well from the church's point of view."

But one move that has put Lori on the hot seat in Bridgeport recently was the announced closing of four parishes, including Holy Rosary on East Washington Avenue. Irate parishioners are exploring options to keep their churches open.

Reese believes Rome would want to fill the Baltimore vacancy, "fairly fast."

The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Baltimore serves nearly 550,000 Catholics attending approximately 100 churches.

On Aug. 29, Pope Benedict XVI called Baltimore's Archbishop Edwin F. O'Brien to Rome after promoting him as pro-grand master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem. The position's main duty is to uphold the rights of the Catholic Church in Jerusalem.