Bishop Mitchell Rozanski Will Serve Springfield Diocese Well

The Republican
August 11, 2014

http://www.masslive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2014/08/editorial_bishop_mitchell_roza.html

Bishop Mitchell T. Rozanski talks about his installation as Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield along with other topics during an interview with the Republican recently. (DAVE ROBACK / THE REPUBLICAN).

“I am delighted to announce our wait is over," Bishop Timothy McDonnell said. “They scoured the earth and they found the right man to take my place.”

On Tuesday, Mitchell Rozanski will be installed as the region's ninth bishop since the diocese was created in 1870 and the first bishop with Polish roots. To date, at least seven of the region's eight bishops have had Irish background. The product of Catholic schools, he graduated from the Catholic University of America and its Theological College in Washington, D.C.

“As a church, Jesus gives us the model and the example of welcome, of sharing our faith, of sharing the joy of our faith and I think that is the most important thing we can do as a church,” he said in a recent interview.

On Nov. 24, 1984, he was ordained as a priest of the Archdiocese of Baltimore during a ceremony at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen. On Aug. 24, 2004, he was installed as auxiliary bishop of the Baltimore archdiocese. At the time, he was the country's youngest Catholic bishop in the nation's oldest Catholic diocese.

His answer to a question about the Affordable Care Act and providing contraception was thoughtful and showed a probative mind.

“It is a far wider issue of the government infringing upon our practicing of our faith as our faith is taught,” he said in part. “It would be unfair to characterize it merely as an issue of contraception. It is a far wider issue."

Rozanski has been part of the solution in terms of the dark past of priest abuse of children.

He has been involved with minor revisions of the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops’ Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People. He warns of constant vigilance – at every level and institution to protect children.

He said he would reach out to businesses to fund scholarships for students at Catholic schools. This is not a theoretical solution. Rozanski will draw on his experience in Baltimore, where he used a similar model with success.

"Catholic schools are crucial in transmitting the faith, and in supporting parents in their roles as teachers of the faith, and in helping to educate our children -- life long -- in being able to live in the faith," he said.

Rozanski is a man who holds fast to the best traditions of Catholicism. He has intelligence, vision and warmth. He is a willing listener and a careful speaker.

The Diocese of Springfield should be served well by Rozanski – and the residents of the region, as a whole, can look to him for leadership with conscience.