PENNSYLVANIA
The Morning Call
Daniel Patrick Sheehan
Like a Bronx kid growing up to play for the Yankees, Monsignor Alfred Schlert is pinching himself, astonished that the grade-school stirring of his soul toward the priesthood has culminated with Pope Francis naming him a shepherd of shepherds.
Schlert, a Palmer Township native who has been governing the Allentown Catholic Diocese since Bishop John O. Barres left for Long Island this year, will be elevated to the episcopate and installed as the fifth bishop of Allentown on Aug. 31.
Schlert was as surprised as anyone when he learned last week that Francis had appointed him to oversee the 252,000 faithful of the five-county diocese and the hundreds of priests, deacons and religious sisters and brothers who minister to them. …
In taking command, Schlert faces the same challenges as his predecessors and counterparts nationwide: the need to increase vocations, attract young people to the faith, bring lapsed Catholics back to the fold and help those wounded by clerical sexual abuse.
On the latter issue, Schlert said the diocese and the church as a whole have established policies and procedures to prevent abuse and help victims.
“For some it will be a difficult path to healing, and we have to stay close to them and accompany them,” he said. “We’ve taken a lot of steps and will continue to be faithful to that.”
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