After Cardinal Law, Questions for Murphy

By John Rather
New York Times
December 22, 2002

It has been a rough start for Bishop William F. Murphy, the spiritual leader of Long Island's 1.5 million Roman Catholics. His first full year as head of the Diocese of Rockville Centre has been dogged by accusations that he indulged himself at the diocese's expense in the construction of a new official residence. He has also had to deal with local reaction from the sex abuse scandal sweeping the American church, including a new grass-roots group challenging the diocesan hierarchy to be more open.

But the worst of the storm may still be ahead. Still at issue, in the courts of law and of public opinion, is whether the 62-year-old bishop took part in shielding priests who sexually abused children during his years as a top official in the Archdiocese of Boston, where Cardinal Bernard F. Law resigned as archbishop earlier this month and asked forgiveness for allowing pedophile priests to remain in active ministries.

As attention shifts from the cardinal to his former and current lieutenants in Boston, documents that Massachusetts courts have allowed to be released are beginning to detail the role Bishop Murphy took in these cases as the second-highest official in the archdiocese for much of the 1990's.

Lawyers and others familiar with documents released from the Boston investigation have said that Bishop Murphy's name appears less often in them than the names of other top advisers to Cardinal Law. But that could change as more documents are released.

Bishop Murphy has steadfastly declined to publicly discuss his time in Boston. Joanne Novarro, a spokeswoman for the Rockville Centre diocese, said it would be inappropriate for him to comment on his tenure in Boston because he is currently under subpoena to appear before a grand jury there on Feb. 12.

The Massachusetts attorney general, Thomas Reilly, convened the panel to look into charges of sexual abuse of children by priests in the Boston archdiocese and what Mr. Reilly characterized as a cover-up by archdiocesan officials. Bishop Murphy was one of seven current and former bishops called to testify.

Bishop Murphy was vicar general and moderator of the curia -- the No. 2 post in the Boston archdiocese -- from 1993 until 2001, when Pope John Paul II named him to the Long Island post. From 1987 to 1993 he was secretary of community relations for the archdiocese.

Bishop Murphy's silence on his tenure in Boston has not helped him with Long Island Catholics. "The bishop would certainly improve his relationship with the people in the diocese by being very open about his past in Boston and about the present here in the Diocese of Rockville Centre," said Sheila Peiffer of Southampton, the co-director of Long Island Voice of the Faithful, the local chapter of the group of Catholic laity disenchanted with the church's handling of the sex scandal.

Since coming to Rockville Centre, Bishop Murphy has formulated new policies on abusive priests, has removed several priests facing credible allegations of abuse and has turned over church records of an unspecified number of abuse cases to the district attorneys in Nassau and Suffolk.

Rick Hinshaw, a spokesman for the Nassau district attorney, said that a seven-month investigation found no allegations of sex abuse during Bishop Murphy's tenure. Other allegations involved incidents that happened too long ago to be prosecuted, he said..

But in Suffolk, a special grand jury convened to probe abuse and cover-ups in the diocese recently received additional time to gather testimony. The panel, which began meeting in May, now has until Feb. 28 to complete its work.

Meanwhile, Bishop Murphy continues to face criticism locally for creating a 5,000-square-foot official bishop's residence out of a former convent adjacent to St. Agnes Cathedral in Rockville Centre. The diocese said the renovations cost about $800,000, or about $300,000 more than expected, plus an additional $120,000 for furniture and appliances.

The Newsday columnist Jimmy Breslin has called the residence Mansion Murphy and has taken the bishop to task for displacing the Dominican nuns who had been living there.

The diocese has defended the renovation and furnishings as necessary to provide space for church offices, meetings and events. "Unfortunately people's perception of the residence is very much fueled by Breslin, and he has been very inaccurate," Ms. Novarro said.

Mr. Breslin did not immediately respond to a message left at his office in Queens, seeking comment, on Wednesday. Dixie Scovel, Newsday's director of public affairs, said: "Jimmy Breslin is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, and his work speaks for itself. It probably should be pointed out, however, that Bishop Murphy has apologized for the costs."

Ms. Novarro said pledges to the bishop's appeal this year were $14.7 million, almost reaching the $15 million goal set by Bishop Murphy, an increase of $3 million from 2001.

The Long Island Voice of the Faithful is accepting donations for a charitable fund that will detail how money is used.

Bishop Murphy has barred the group from meeting on church property. In an interview published on Sept. 18 in The Long Island Catholic, the diocesan newspaper, he said he saw no need for the group and believed allowing meetings on church property gave it an official standing it did not deserve.