Bridgeport Bishop William Lori Named Archbishop of Baltimore

By Daniela Altimari, Jean Marbella, Mary Gail Hare
Hartford Courant
March 20, 2012

http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-bishop-lori-to-baltimore-20120320,0,4619847.story

Connecticut Catholics will soon lose one of their most outspoken leaders.

Bishop William E. Lori of the Diocese of Bridgeport was named the archbishop of Baltimore on Tuesday. He was chosen by Pope Benedict XVI to replace Cardinal Edwin O'Brien, who was archbishop from October 2007 to August 2011 before leaving to become the grand master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem.

Lori long has been at the forefront of church-state issues in Connecticut and the nation. In 2009, he helped lead a high-profile campaign against state legislation that would have sharply altered the governance structure of Catholic parishes. Lori was instrumental in organizing a protest that brought about 4,000 Catholics to the state Capitol in Hartford on a rainy Wednesday afternoon to oppose the measure, which was hastily withdrawn.

More recently, as the head of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' committee on religious freedom, Lori took a leading role in the church's battle with over the requirement that insurers provide free birth control, even if religiously affiliated employers such as Catholic hospitals and universities are not forced to pay for it. Lori testified three times before Congress in opposition to the Obama administration's mandate.

"Religious freedom is a God-given fundamental right of all,'' Lori wrote in a letter to parishioners about the contraception policy in February. "The free exercise of religion extends well beyond the freedom of worship. It also forbids government from forcing people or groups to violate their most deeply held religious convictions, and from interfering in the internal affairs of religious organizations. In the United States, respect for religious liberty must be broad and inclusive — not narrow and exclusive. And it is not for the government to decide which of our ministries is 'religious enough" to warrant religious freedom protection.'"

Peter Wolfgang, executive director of the Family Institute of Connecticut and a Catholic, said Lori is "very much a bishop in the John Paul II style."

Lori, Wolfgang said, "defended religious liberty vigorously against Connecticut's aggressive secularism, oftentimes bypassing the church's own bureaucracy to do it.''

"Baltimore could not ask for a better shepherd to lead them through the challenges facing the church in this second decade of the 21st century," Wolfgang said.

Lori will be at the center of a heated debate over same-sex marriage in Maryland, just as he was in Connecticut, which legalized same-sex unions following a landmark court decision in 2008. Maryland's governor, Martin O'Malley, recently signed legislation sanctioning same-sex marriage over the objections of some religious groups, including the Catholic archdiocese. The issue expected to go to voter referendum in the fall.

"The bishop comes as a teacher to witness to the truth," Lori said Tuesday morning at a press conference at the Basilica in downtown Baltimore. "The church has clearly and consistently taught the greatness of marriage between one man and one woman. Certainly, I will continue that teaching as a bishop and will be working on this issue as the referendum unfolds."

Back In Bridgeport Wednesday

Lori, 60, was born in Louisville, Ky., and ordained a priest in 1977. He became a bishop in 1995 and has served as bishop of Bridgeport since 2001. The diocese includes more than 460,000 Catholics.

The Archdiocese of Baltimore serves 510,000 Catholics in Baltimore and nine counties in central and western Maryland, according to the archdiocese website.

Lori will return to Bridgeport for an afternoon press conference Wednesday. He will continue to lead the diocese until he is installed in Baltimore in mid-May, said Brian Wallace, the Bridgeport Diocese's communications director.

After that, the leading priests from the Bridgeport diocese will gather to name an interim leader to manage the diocese. As for a permanent successor, "we have at this time absolutely no idea,'' Wallace said. "It could be as little as two months, or it could be six months or more. I don't think anyone expects any announcement imminently."

Lori is supreme chaplain for the New Haven-based Knights of Columbus, responsible for the spiritual health of its 1.7 million members worldwide. The group said Lori's new post is a good fit.

"It is notable that his new archdiocese has a long tradition in the area of religious freedom,'' the group said in a statement. "Baltimore's first archbishop, John Carroll was a stalwart defender of religious liberty in the early United States and cousin of Charles Carroll — the only Catholic signer of the Declaration of Independence."

Lori had barely settled in as Bridgeport's bishop when he faced two grave crises. Less than six months into his tenure, terrorists struck the World Trade Center, claiming the lives of dozens of his Fairfield County parishioners.

"He spent his early days ministering to a much-aggrieved and stunned diocese and he did that beautifully,'' said Wallace, the diocese's communications director. Lori mobilized Catholic Charities to tend to his parishioners practical needs while he provided spiritual guidance, Wallace said.

Then Lori was confronted with the devastating consequences of the church sex abuse scandal. In October of 2003, Lori apologized to sexual abuse victims and announced a $21 million settlement with 40 people who say they were molested by priests.

He instituted a series of reforms that became a model for preventing child sex abuse for dioceses across the nation. "It was an extremely difficult time, a time of greatest crisis and he dealt with it with courage and moved forward,'' Wallace said.

At the same time, Lori waged a persistent and forceful legal battle to prevent the public disclosure of documents relating to the clergy sex abuse scandal in the Bridgeport diocese. He took the case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which in 2009 denied a motion by the diocese's New York attorneys to temporarily keep sealed the sex abuse documents.

David Clohessy, director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, immediately criticized Lori's appointment, calling it "a callous choice and a terribly disappointing one for anyone who cares about kids."

Lori has a bachelor's degree from the Seminary of Saint Pius X in Kentucky and a master's degree from Mount Saint Mary's Seminary in Emmitsburg, Md. He received a doctorate from The Catholic University of America in Washington and has served on several committees of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

His assignment to Baltimore will not be the first time Lori has served in Maryland. According to his biography on the Diocese of Bridgeport's website, his first assignment was as an associate pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Landover, Md.