Newark Archbishop Myers — One Eye on His Legacy, the Other on the Exit Door: Moran
By Tom Moran
Newark Archbishop John J. Myers said yesterday he is praying for my soul. But I’m not sure I want him to intervene. Because only last month Myers suggested people like me would spend eternity in hell for pointing out that he failed to protect children from sexual abuse by priests. “God only knows their personal reasons and agenda,” he wrote of his critics. “We are still called to love them. And God will surely address them in due time.” Using the language of love to express such bitterness is chilling, to put it mildly. Suffering for eternity seems just a tad overboard as punishment for an editorial calling for Myers to resign. The news is that Rome intervened yesterday by appointing an heir apparent to Myers three years before he reaches retirement age. For now, the new man will sit at the archbishop’s elbow, watching every move as coadjutor archbishop. This has the markings of a polite way to pressure Myers into retirement. And yesterday, a handful of abuse victims and their advocates were celebrating on the sidewalk outside the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark. “I’m walking 10 feet off the ground,” said Robert Hoatson, a former priest who is now an advocate for victims of abuse. “Pope Francis is sending a message.” If so, Myers didn’t get the message. Asked if this was a rebuke, he gave his hottest answer of the day: “Absolutely not!” he said. “It was my own request.” When faced with this sort of mystery, it is a journalist’s job to dig at the details and see which version stands up. So yesterday a reporter asked Myers when exactly he made this request of the Vatican. Myers slammed that door shut. “I don’t think I need to talk about my conversations with Rome,” he said. You can pick sides on this, but both stories could be true. Myers could have made the request under pressure as his support within the church began to collapse over his many lapses. Maybe the breaking point was in April when The Star-Ledger’s Mark Mueller revealed Myers had allowed an abusive priest to attend youth retreats and take confessions from minors, a direct violation of a binding agreement with the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office. Maybe it was in August when the parents of an abused child flew to Newark with an affidavit showing that Myers didn’t lift a finger to protect their son in the Peoria, Ill., diocese he once led, claiming he misplaced files that would have tipped him off to the danger. My personal guess is that Myers made a savvy political move, that he made the request to deflate calls for his resignation. Now he can fade away at his own pace. And in the meantime, the Vatican can keep an eye on him. Everyone wins. The new man is Bernard A. Hebda, a bishop from Gaylord, Mich., and a teddy bear everyone wanted to hug by the end of yesterday’s news conference. Like the new pope, Hebda struck only humble notes, saying he had much to learn from those around him. He thanked reporters after each question. He poked fun at his own ample girth, saying he hoped to emulate Myers by starting a daily exercise routine soon. Asked how he would handle sexual abuse cases, he said he didn’t know yet because he had no experience with it. It soon became impossible to imagine this cheerful man fantasizing about his critics getting their due in the afterlife. His good will was palpable enough to touch. So who really cares if this is a rebuke to Myers? A public scolding from the pope would bring comfort to the victims of abuse. And it would be welcomed by Catholics who resent his narrow and pinched view of church doctrine, and his insistence that opposition to abortion rights and gay marriage be placed at the very top of the church’s agenda. But the larger point is the 1.3 million Catholics in the archdiocese will soon have a new leader in Newark to match their new leader in Rome, that Myers is compromised today, and on his way out tomorrow. If yesterday’s dance means Myers can say he was not chased out of town, that he left with his head held high, then so be it. It’s a small price to pay for this overdue changing of the guard. Contact: tmoran@starledger.com
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