BishopAccountability.org
	In Interview, Archbishop Cites 'Vow of Obedience' Interview of Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley by Michael Paulson Boston Globe March 19, 2006 http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/ 2006/03/19/in_interview_archbishop_cites_vow_of_obedience/ Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley of Boston sat down on Wednesday for an interview with Globe religion reporter Michael Paulson. Below are excerpts of the interview, which took place at the archdiocesan headquarters in Brighton. Q: Tell me, first of all, what kind of changes you anticipate for yourself personally and for the archdiocese as a result of your becoming a cardinal. A: Well, it's new, so it's hard for me to forecast. I suppose that the Holy Father will appoint me to some commissions that will necessitate attending meetings occasionally. I'm hoping that the Holy See will recognize the fact that Boston is a large archdiocese with many challenges and will not give me so many assignments that it will distract from my principal mission, which is to be the archbishop of Boston. Q: You mentioned the title, Your Eminence, and I know you're a Capuchin friar. You've placed this big emphasis on humility and working with the poor, and at the same time you'll now have these very elaborate vestments and this lofty title and certain privileges. And I wonder how you reconcile being on the one hand a prince of the church, and on the other hand a Franciscan. A: Well, it's an anomaly that you accept because you want to be available for the mission of the church. We have the vow of obedience, and I took as my motto "Do Whatever He Tells You -- Quodcumque Dixerit Facite," which are the last words of the blessed mother in the Bible. But I don't like the hoopla and will try to avoid as much of it as I can without -- I don't want to not recognize the dignity of this honor and the office and what it means for Catholics, and so, when in proper times I have to wear certain liturgical vestments, I will certainly do that. I've always tried to observe what the church expects of us, but my preference is to try and maintain a simple lifestyle. Q: I understand that the red hat that you'll get has traditionally symbolized a willingness to shed blood for the church, and I wonder, what does that mean in a contemporary context? A: The red vestments carry that significance, and one that I think is very powerful for Catholics, for believers. It certainly is for me. I like to think that I'm prepared to suffer for my vocation, for the church, and I hope that God will give me the grace to be faithful to that. It's unlikely that I will experience a bloody persecution, but there's always more subtle forms of persecution that people have to endure for their beliefs and to be able to witness to the Gospel. Q: You mentioned that persecution comes in other forms. Do you see the church as persecuted, either locally or nationally? A: Well, at times, I think the dominant culture, the secular culture, does trivialize our beliefs, and at times ridicules them. It's not the same as the kind of persecution that people experience in Cuba or before the fall of the Iron Curtain. There were many worse forms of persecution. But I think that there are many forms of persecution, and certainly one of them is to be ridiculed. Rebuilding the church Q: You arrived in Boston citing St. Francis's injunction to rebuild the church, and making that your goal here. How do you assess how that's going? A: Well, I think that it's not just my rebuilding the church, but the Catholic community coming together, with God's grace, to rebuild the church. I think that there have been many great challenges that we've dealt with as a Catholic community in the last couple of years. Certainly the sex abuse crisis and downsizing our parishes and institutions, the economic crisis that we face, aging clergy. But I think that people have shown a lot of resilience, and in my visits to the parishes for confirmations or parish visits or weekend visits for anniversaries and Sunday Masses, it's always very encouraging to see the vitality of the life in so many of the communities. There's no quick fix, and what we've been through as a local church has been very serious, and has very, very deep effects. But as I say, I see many signs of hope, and resilience in the priests. Q: What do you think are the biggest challenges facing the archdiocese, looking ahead? A: Well, certainly passing on the faith is the biggest challenge, and inspiring people to have a sense of personal vocation as individuals. Q: When you arrived here, obviously the abuse crisis overshadowed everything about this archdiocese. How do you think the archdiocese is doing at moving forward on that front? A: Well, it certainly has been the largest issue, I think, in the life of the history of the church in Boston. And certainly, when I arrived, I tried to look for creative ways to come to a settlement with all of the survivors, the victims. I've committed to continue the annual audits voluntarily, even though it's not being imposed by the bishops' conference, in order to be able to identify areas that we do want to improve in. I dare say that I don't think there's any other institution in the Commonwealth that has done as much to re-guarantee the safety of children as the Catholic Church has done. Parish closings, adoptions Q: The other issue that's loomed particularly large during your time here has been the closing of parishes. I wonder, in hindsight, if you think the effort was worth all the unhappiness that it generated. A: Well, I don't think we had a lot of choice. If we did not close those parishes right at this point, we would be in very great difficulty to be able to staff all of our parishes, and the economic free fall that we've been in would be even worse than it is now. And the closing of parishes has allowed us to regroup, to strengthen some of our communities, and it's going to allow us to be able to staff all of our parishes with clergy for a much longer time. It's also allowed us to strengthen our retirement funds that were weak. It certainly has been a very painful process. It was for me, as I know it has been for the parishes. And I think that there have been mistakes of methodology, perhaps. But I think the need to downsize is something that was a crying need. Q: How do you expect to handle the final six parishes that are still occupied by protesters? A: Well, we're still in dialogue with them. Each one of those communities is slightly different situations, and I don't know exactly what the outcome will be at this point. We'd like to see it come to a peaceful resolution. Q: There's this controversy over the Catholic Charities' decision to get out of the adoption business. I wonder, do you personally agree with the Vatican's position that adoption by same-sex couples is doing violence to children? A: Well, it's a very tragic moment for us to have to step away from adoptions, since that has been such a characteristic Catholic Charities type of activity, and one that has been in many ways the centerpiece of our Catholic Charities programs throughout the United States. But I understand the Holy See's concern that in our works of mercy, in our social programs, we must be consistent in teaching the Catholic faith in one voice. And certainly the church's teaching on marriage is very central to our beliefs. And the best way for a child to be raised is to be conceived and nurtured and raised by committed, loving parents in a marriage. And I know that many people would cast our actions as mean-spirited or to denigrate people. But it is our desire to be faithful to that love that is the very core and reason for our church and our religion, that we must love God, obey his commandments, and try and create a civilization of love. Q: Why not make a kind of prudential judgment that the good done by placing a large number of children with traditional families outweighs the harm done by placing a small number with nontraditional families? A: Well, particularly at a time when marriage is threatened, it's very important that the church's teaching on the institution of marriage be reflected in our works of mercy and our social services. Q: I'm curious whether, if you did disagree with the Vatican's position on this, is there any way for you to express that, either to Rome or to the public? Or is it simply not possible for a bishop to disagree on matters like this with teachings from Rome? A: Well, I think this is a very clear teaching. And it's not one that would admit of dissent in the church. Q: I want to talk for a minute about the administration of the archdiocese. I'm sure you know that some folks wish you had done more to replace administrators who worked for Cardinal Law. What do you say to those folks who would like to see more of a shake-up here at the chancery? A: Well, we are in a moment of transition. Obviously, we have a search committee in place for a new chancellor, which is a very important position in the archdiocese, because of the vast responsibilities that the chancellor has. The fiscal recovery committee of the finance council has come up with a lot of recommendations for regionalization and streamlining our central operations, and some of those recommendations certainly will be followed. So I think people are going to see a number of changes in the very near future. Personal challenges Q: This has been such an extraordinary time for the Archdiocese of Boston. I was hoping, would you talk for a bit about how it's affected you personally? How do you feel about being here? A: Well, it's challenging. There's times when it's very exciting, but other times when it's overwhelming. But it's never boring. Q: How do you cope with the controversies and the scrutiny? A: Well, I'm just getting used to it I guess. As I said when I came, eat those powder milk biscuits for shy people. Q: I often hear people say they think you've lost a lot of weight or that you seem depressed by the job. Do you see either of those as being the case? A: I don't think so. I think that sometimes the problems weigh heavily upon me, but I don't think I've been depressed. Depression, I think, is when you're depressed and you have nothing to be depressed about (laughter). When I'm depressed, I have something to be depressed about. If you know what I mean. Society, church doctrine Q: With so much disagreement within the church today, and I suppose within the society at large, what is the proper place, in your view, for disagreement within Catholicism? A: Well, I'm often disappointed by the intensity or the, how shall I say, the rhetoric. I certainly think that there needs to be dialogue and we need to listen to each other. I certainly wish that there was a little more charity in the discourse of people who disagree. Q: Is there a place in the church for those who place their faith in Jesus but disagree with teachings about sexuality or even abortion? A: Well, certainly we don't want to drive people out of the church, but we do want to bring people closer to the truth that is proclaimed in the church, particularly around these issues, which are very important. The church cannot allow itself to be assimilated into the secular culture around us, and sometimes I think that some of our Catholics have been so influenced by their culture, and then are upset when the church doesn't follow the same path of assimilation, rather than one of giving prophetic witness to a different message, that is the message of the Gospel. Q: I guess this gets to this question that has somewhat surrounded this papacy so far, which is whether the church would be better off as a smaller, purer institution or whether it's some kind of big tent. A: (Laughter) Well, there's over a billion of us in the tent. It's pretty big. The church's mission is to try and proclaim the Gospel to the whole world.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.