PROVIDENCE (RI)
WJAR-TV, NBC-10 [Providence RI]
November 8, 2024
By Brian Crandall
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WJAR) — A longtime leader of the Catholic Church in Rhode Island has died.
Former Bishop Louis Gelineau passed away Thursday at the age of 96 in North Smithfield.
Gelineau led the Diocese of Providence for 25 years and was credited with being a strong advocate for the institution.
He also came under criticism over clergy sex abuse.
Gelineau arrived from Vermont to become bishop in 1972. He retired in 1997.
“He was for us a very good shepherd and a good bishop,” said the Rev. Jack Unsworth.
Unsworth kept in touch with Gelineau and last saw him earlier this year.
He was in the seminary when Gelineau became bishop more than 50 years ago.
“He had a lot of energy. Anyone will tell you that,” Unsworth told NBC 10 News on Friday. “He brought to the diocese that kind of energy and newness and an enthusiasm for the faith that we share. He was first and foremost a teacher and a shepherd.”
“All I really wanted when I was ordained was to be a good priest,” Gelineau told NBC 10 News as he retired in 1997.
As bishop, Gelineau was no stranger to the spotlight.
He had a public feud with Planned Parenthood head Mary Ann Sorrentino over her excommunication from the church due to her abortion stance.
The clergy sex abuse scandal came at the tail end of Gelineau’s time as bishop.
Lawsuits then, and in the years since, named Gelineau as a defendant, with accusations the diocese protected pedophile priests years earlier.
[SEE VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/embed/7MsJpXA6D_8]
When Gelineau retired as bishop, he told NBC 10’s Jim Taricani that he thought actions taken when they were taken were appropriate, and he pushed back on allegations he covered up sexual abuse.
“That’s absolutely an unfounded and unjust accusation against us and we’re fighting against those accusations now,” Gelineau said in that June 1997 interview.
“He saw the church challenged. He saw our faith questioned. He saw people leaving the church,” Unsworth said of Gelineau during that time. “I wouldn’t say it tarnished what he did. These were the times we were living in. We couldn’t change things. One of the things I think he’s to be admired for is the way that he confronted it head on. He didn’t try to push it aside or pretend that it would go away.”
Critics of Gelineau would disagree.
In 2019, the diocese acknowledged paying out more than $20 million in legal settlements.