UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter
Michael Sean Winters | Sep. 15, 2015
Roma locuta est. In two separate announcements this morning, the Vatican announced that it had selected Bishop James Johnston, previously Bishop of Springfield-Cape Girardeau, to be the next Bishop of Kansas City-St. Joseph, and that both Archbishop Blase Cupich of Chicago and Bishop George Murry, SJ, of Youngstown, have been appointed as fathers to next month’s synod on the family. Sacred Heart of Mary Sr. Maureen Kelleher was also named as an auditor.
I do not know much about Bishop Johnston, but his bio has some interesting details. He has supported the Catholic Worker movement in his previous assignment. He worked to build Catholic Charities of Southern Missouri. Bishop Johnston also served on the USCCB Committee on Child Protection, so he will be familiar with, and presumably committed to, the pledges the bishops have made to the people of God but sometimes ignored regarding child protection. On the other hand, he over-reacted when Mercy hospital announced earlier this year that it was extending benefits to legally married same-sex couples. To be sure, that was before the Supreme Court ruling on the issue, but I still find his words a tad histrionic.
Whatever his past experiences, it is the future that must define his present circumstances. Bishop Johnston goes to a diocese that has been broken in almost every way a diocese can be broken. His predecessor Bishop Finn was divisive from the moment he arrived, and the divisions only seemed to get worse as he continued as that diocese’s bishop. He was sacked, ultimately, over his conviction for failing to report child sex abuse by a member of his clergy, the only U.S. bishop to be so convicted. Yet, he stayed on, apparently unaware that he, of all people, could not begin the healing process the diocese so desperately needed. To say that there was a breakdown in trust between bishop and people would be an understatement. Bishop Johnston is inheriting a mess. He is well advised to spend the first months of his tenure listening, listening and more listening.
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