Harrisburg's New Bishop Seemed Destined for Success While Growing up in Pottsville, Friends Say

By Charles Thompson
Pennlive
January 26, 2014

http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2014/01/harrisburgs_new_bishop_seemed.html

Calvin Blaned receives a new pair of socks from Bishop Ronald Gainer, as a thank you for allowing the Catholic Action Center to serve them, as part of the Holy Thursday Foot Washing on Thursday March 28th 2013. Participants in the foot washing, had their feet washed, and lotion put on them as well as received a new pair of socks, in commemoration of the Last Supper, when Jesus washed the feet of his apostles.

It’s not that the young Ronald Gainer was considered most likely to become a bishop in his mid-1960s high school class.

Sure, the young Gainer was noticeably devout and serious about his faith, even for the 1,000-plus students at Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary High School in Pottsville, Schuylkill County.

It’s more like this, said Ed Tray, a former classmate and current teacher at the Catholic high school: “I think anybody who went to school with him would know he would be a success in whatever he tried to do.”

Gainer found his latest success Friday when Pope Francis named him the next Bishop of the Roman Catholic Church’s Harrisburg Diocese.

In his hometown, where Gainer hasn’t lived for more than 30 years but is still one of the prides of the community, news that he will be coming back to Pennsylvania made for a big day.

Television crews descended on the high school, and everyone seemed eager to tell a story or two about the local boy made good from the Jalappa section of town.

Or local boy made real good, now.

High school records show Gainer made his mark first and foremost around Pottsville as a superlative student: he finished at Nativity ranked second in his class of 359.

Yearbook entries show the receipt of numerous awards, plus participation in the school theatrical productions, the student newspaper and Catholic Action Club, a youth service organization.

People remembered him as smart as a whip, but friendly and charismatic, too.

Gainer entered the St. Charles Borromeo Seminary after high school, and was ordained to the priesthood in 1973.

From there, he served as both a parish priest and diocesan administrator in his home Allentown Diocese until 2002, when he was named to his current post in Lexington, Ken.

At the height of the church’s sex abuse scandals at the time, Gainer succeeded J. Kendrick Williams, who resigned the previous June after being accused of sexually abusing three boys earlier in his career.

Gainer faces no trauma like that in the new succession; his immediate predecessor in Harrisburg, Bishop Joseph McFadden, died unexpectedly last summer during a Bishop’s meeting in Philadelphia.

His time in Lexington was not without controversy. He consistently took a conservative stance and early in his tenure called for pro-abortion politicians to voluntarily abstain from receiving holy Communion, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader.

In November 2008, Gainer wrote a letter to members of the Lexington diocese stressing the church's stance against abortion. He said in the letter that there were many issues voters might consider, but the sacredness of human life was "the paramount issue of our time."

The Lexington Herald-Leader said that Gainer acknowledged in a 2008 interview that there would likely be some resistance to his statement, but that the church’s voice should be heard.

Deborah Burton, who was a member of a conservative Catholic group when Gainer arrived in Lexington, said then that Gainer "does not mince words" on key issues and "he doesn't apologize," according to the Herald-Leader.

Gainer’s new position puts him in charge of a much bigger flock: In Harrisburg he will lead approximately 250,000 Catholics across Central Pennsylvania, compared with about 45,000 Catholics in the Lexington diocese.

The 15-county Harrisburg diocese, spread over 7,600 square miles, has a total population of 2.22 million, compared with the Lexington diocese’s population of 1.58 million spread over 16,400 square miles.

Pottsville residents and brother priests alike said Gainer’s appointment to Harrisburg seems a perfect match between personality and job.

A seminary classmate had the highest praise for Gainer’s demeanor Friday, even after more than 10 years as a bishop.

“We’ve had so many climbers over the years… People who would sell their souls just to become a monsignor,” said the Rev. Gene Tully, pastor of St. Joseph’s Parish in Ambler, Montgomery County.

“Ron never did any of that,” Tully continued. “He remained Ron Gainer, and he remained a real gentle, personable priest.”

Trey, speaking from Pottsville where he teaches theology part time, agreed.

“I think when he (Gainer) gets to Harrisburg, he will remind you very much of Pope Francis,” in the sense that he has retained a sense of humility and service, even as his career as a church leader has progressed.

Tray said he saw that up close when Gainer returned to lead a Mass in Pottsville three years ago. “He just walked in. There was nobody with him… He was just a visiting priest who’d come in to say Mass.”

Tully predicted the diocese’s priests will especially like that about Gainer, too. “Those guys. They’re going to enjoy being led by him, and being respected by him,” he said.

While Gainer hasn’t been physical fixture in Pottsville for many decades, he remains a well-known and highly-regarded personality in his heavily Catholic hometown.

And while the new job is technically not a homecoming – Schuylkill County, while abutting Dauphin County, actually sits in the church’s Allentown Diocese. But Friday’s announcement had that feel.

Many a person, Schuylkill County Commissioner George Halcovage Jr. said Friday, has received a phone call or note from Gainer over the years, perhaps mourning a death or celebrating an anniversary or birth.

“There are certain people who when they leave an area, they leave an area for good,” said Halcovage, whose aunt was one of Gainer’s teachers. “He’s a person who’s never forgotten his roots.”

Theologically, Tully described Gainer as a loyal priest whom the Vatican can know will reliably promote the church’s teachings. But he managed to do that, those in Lexington say, all the while emphasizing unity over division.

Gainer gave some insight into his beliefs at his introductory press conference on Friday.

“Harrisburg’s got a gold mine right now,” Tully added. “They’ve got a real great spiritual leader.”

Contact: cthompson@pennlive.com