Newark Archbishop Denies That Criticism LED to Moves
The Associated Press
NEWARK — The Roman Catholic archbishop here on Tuesday introduced the cleric appointed by the Vatican to assist him and denied that the move was related to criticism over his handling of a sexually abusive priest. The cleric, Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda, recently of Gaylord, Mich., was named coadjutor archbishop for Archbishop John J. Myers, 72, who is to retire as head of the Newark Archdiocese in 2016. A coadjutor automatically succeeds the current archbishop upon his retirement, transfer or death, according to a statement by the archdiocese. Archbishop Myers said on Tuesday that he intended “to be here until I’m 75.” Archbishop Myers denied that Archbishop Hebda’s appointment was related to the controversy surrounding the Rev. Michael Fugee, who stepped down in May, or to accusations that he failed to take action against a priest accused of molesting a boy while he was bishop of Peoria, Ill. “Absolutely not,” he said. “It was at my own request. That was never part of any discussion, and I don’t think that there are substantiated reasons for them doing so. I don’t think that it’s about that.” On Tuesday, Archbishop Myers said he had requested a coadjutor “some time ago” because the archdiocese was undertaking several major projects even though he and two other bishops are in their 70s. Archbishop Hebda is 54. Archbishop Myers declined to specify when he made the request. Asked about Archbishop Hebda’s three-year wait, the Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said the naming of a coadjutor bishop signals to the flock that the governance of the diocese will continue after Archbishop Myers retires. He acknowledged that while some archbishops stay on beyond their 75th birthday, those with coadjutors resign on time. Father Fugee confessed to sexually abusing a teenage boy but returned to the ministry under a 2003 agreement between prosecutors and the Newark Archdiocese. The agreement stipulated that he be kept from unsupervised contact with minors. Instead, authorities say, he became a fixture at a youth group and attended overnight retreats. He later resigned and was arrested. In his resignation letter, Father Fugee said the archdiocese did not know about his youth ministry work. Last month, Peoria’s Roman Catholic Diocese announced it would pay $1.35 million to settle a lawsuit by a former altar boy who accused Msgr. Thomas Maloney, now deceased, of abusing him, and Archbishop Myers, who was then the bishop, of failing to take action against the monsignor. Archbishop Myers testified that he had not been aware of accusations against Maloney. After the settlement, Archbishop Myers sent a letter to clergy calling news media coverage “deceitful and misleading” and saying of his critics among the ranks of former priests, “God will surely address them in due time.” Archbishop Hebda was born in Pittsburgh and holds degrees from Harvard and the Columbia School of Law. He was ordained in 1989 and, beginning in 1996, served on the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts in Rome, which interprets the church’s laws. He was named the bishop of Gaylord in 2009. Archbishop Hebda conceded that he did not have to handle any serious allegations of sexual abuse in Gaylord, which is much smaller than Newark’s archdiocese. “But it’s the same in approaching, I think, anybody who has a hurt,” he said. “Certainly the church has been involved in that, in reaching out to them with that compassionate face of Christ, so that’s my desire.”
|
.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.