Archbishop Sheehan to submit his resignation

By Olivier Uyttebrouck
ABQ Journal
February 18, 2014

http://www.abqjournal.com/354344/news/archbishop-sheehan-submits-his-resignation.html

Archbishop Michael Sheehan, right, and Deacon Steve Rangel celebrate Mass during the 400th anniversary of St. Augustine Church in Isleta Pueblo in August.

Pope John Paul II, right, presides at a ceremony when the Most Rev. Michael Sheehan, left, was made archbishop of Santa Fe.

Archbishop Michael Sheehan follows a procession of Catholic clergy into a funeral Mass for former Archbishop of Santa Fe Robert Sanchez at the Cathedral Basillica of St. Francis in 2012

Archbishop of Santa Fe Michael Sheehan put parishioners on notice Sunday that a successor could be leading the archdiocese by this time next year.

Sheehan said the Roman Catholic Church requires him to submit a letter of resignation on his 75th birthday in July, though it remains unknown when Pope Francis would name a successor, Sheehan said in a recorded message played at some churches during Mass.

“As many of you know, I turn 75 years old on July 9, 2014,” Sheehan said in the recorded message announcing the 2014 Annual Catholic Appeal, the archbishop’s annual fundraising event.

“At that time I must submit my resignation letter to the Holy See,” he said. “It may take awhile for my successor to be appointed but by ACA 2015, I hope that our new archbishop will be here among us.”

Celine Radigan, spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, said the decision lies with Pope Francis when to accept the resignation and to choose Sheehan’s successor.

Church leaders said the process of selecting a successor could potentially take a year or more.

Sheehan became Archbishop of Santa Fe in 1993 during a time of crisis in the archdiocese, which includes more than 300,000 Catholics in central and northern New Mexico.

The problems Sheehan inherited when Pope John Paul II tapped him to lead the archdiocese included the resignation a few months earlier of then-Archbishop Robert Sanchez amid allegations of sexual relations with women.

Lawsuits were also mounting against the archdiocese in the early years of the sex abuse scandal that would rock the Roman Catholic Church, nationally and internationally.

“It was a tumultuous time with the resignation of a well-beloved archbishop,” the Rev. Dennis Garcia, pastor of San Felipe de Neri in Albuquerque, said Sunday.

Sheehan was thrust into leading abuse investigations, removing priests and overseeing the financial consequences of lawsuits, he said.

Sheehan said in 2002 that the archdiocese dealt with 187 lawsuits during the 1990s and removed more than 20 priests accused of sexual misconduct. The archdiocese has not provided a complete estimate of lawsuit costs, but in a 1993 letter to parishes, it estimated that it had paid more than $50 million to settle lawsuits.

“No one has any training to do that – it’s not what we’re call upon to do as priests,” Garcia said. “So it was absolutely a very, very difficult thing. But I think he did it well.”

The recorded announcement was posted on the archdiocese’s website on Wednesday, Radigan said. Parishioners said the message was played Sunday in some parishes.

A parishioner at St. Joseph’s on the Rio Grande said the message evoked a murmur of surprise when it was played during Mass.

Several parishioners said Sheehan was the right man for the job during a difficult time for the archdiocese.

“He has been wonderful – he’s a beautiful man,” said Ray Vargas, 75, a parishioner at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Albuquerque. “He has been very vigorous in getting over those problems.”

Sheehan has also taken steps that have proven unpopular with parishioners.

In January, Sheehan announced his plan to appoint diocesan priests July 1 at Aquinas Newman Center and remove priests with the Chicago-based Dominican Friars, Central Province.

The move prompted parishioners at the University of New Mexico parish to collect 700 petition signatures opposing the move. Sheehan has responded that he will not change his mind.

Sheehan could not be reached for comment on Sunday. At a 2008 celebration of his 25th anniversary as a bishop, he said his mission at the archdiocese was “to bring healing.”

“We had many problems, of course – that’s what brought me here,” Sheehan said before the celebration at Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis in Santa Fe. “But I thank God that one of the most important things I’ve been able to do is be a healer. To be a healer for the church and reach out to victims.”

San Felipe de Neri parishioner Art Romero, 71, said Sheehan had to overcome skepticism when he first arrived from Texas shortly after Sanchez’s resignation.

“He handled it pretty good,” Romero said of Sheehan. “People here like him a lot. He’s been a real good archbishop.”

Romero said he and others hope that a New Mexican will be named to succeed Sheehan.

Garcia said that no one has any idea when a successor might be named or who it might be. In the meantime, Sheehan will remain busy and energetic, predicted Garcia. “It’s hard to believe that he’s going to be 75,” he said. “He’s in such good health and spirits.”

Before becoming archbishop, Sheehan had served since 1993 as bishop of the newly formed Diocese of Lubbock.

In June, Sheehan will celebrate the 50th anniversary of his ordination as a priest, Garcia said.

Garcia predicted that Sheehan will remain in New Mexico after his retirement and continue to serve as a priest.

“He’s truly a priest through and through,” he said.