Says Region Poses 'Great Challenge'
By Michael Paulson
Boston Globe
April 21, 2006
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2006/04/21/omalley_sees_a_test_of_values/
Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley, reflecting on his contentious tenure as archbishop of Boston, said yesterday that Greater Boston is an unusually difficult place to be a Catholic bishop, but that the area is also a rich testing ground for the church as it attempts to convince a secular culture of its religious values.
Alluding to the collision between the liberal values of Massachusetts and the church's conservative positions on sexuality, O'Malley said wistfully that "in a little town in the Midwest, where none of these things are even an issue, it's much easier to be a country pastor." But, in a wide-ranging conversation with Globe journalists, he also said: "Where our people are bumping up against these kinds of questions and are looking for answers and strengthening their faith and their commitment, I think that's an exciting aspect of being in the church in Massachusetts."
O'Malley's tenure here has been dominated by the clergy abuse crisis, parish closings, the legalization of same-sex marriage, and a bruising debate over an ultimately unsuccessful legislative proposal that religious organizations disclose their finances to the state.
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| Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley sat for a wide-ranging interview on Catholic issues yesterday. (Globe Staff Photos / Dina Rudick) |
O'Malley suggested that, for example, other states would have been more receptive to the recent request from the archdiocese that it be allowed to exclude gays and lesbians from adopting children through Catholic Charities. The Massachusetts Legislature declined to consider the exemption.
"It is challenging to teach in this environment, but this is a very important environment for the church to be involved in teaching in. Here we have so many intellectual centers, this is the Athens of the West, and they say that St. Paul's most eloquent sermon was given in Athens and it's the one that had the least impact," he said, chuckling.
"I think certainly this is a great challenge for us as Catholics in an atmosphere where our doctrines are being challenged and questioned, but I think that makes us stronger in responding to those kinds of challenges."
The conversation, which was initiated by the archdiocese in an effort to improve communications with the general public through the news media, marked the first time a Catholic archbishop has visited the Globe since 1997. O'Malley said he saw such outreach as part of his job as archbishop of Boston, a post he has held since the summer of 2003.
"I think that a newspaper has a very special responsibility and an opportunity to help build community and to bring people together, to inform them, mostly to encourage positive initiatives," O'Malley said. "And so, we do want to be in communication with the Globe and the rest of the Boston media."
He said the many controversies in Boston have helped him to keep his mind on what he views as the basics of his faith.
"I think it makes me focus more on what is essential, and that is my vocation, to try and follow the Lord, to try and be faithful, and to realize that a lot of other things that you thought were important really, really aren't that important," he said. "I think in general, for many Catholics, the crisis has caused us to focus more on what is essential, why we are a church, why we are Catholics, who our God is, and the vision he's given to us."
But, he said, the impact of the crises on him personally is not all that important.
"It's not about me," he said. "It's about Christ, his church, his mission. I'm just a small part of it. I'll do my best. Sometimes, it will be inadequate. Sometimes, maybe, I'll find an acorn."
(O'Malley was apparently alluding to a folk expression about dumb luck: "Sometimes even a blind pig finds an acorn.")
O'Malley offered an expansive view of the Catholic Church's membership, saying that he considers people who go to church only on major occasions to still be Catholic, and noting that he did not seek the resignation of Catholic Charities board members who disagreed with him over adoption policy. He insisted "there is no blacklist" of people who are not welcome in the church, and an adviser pointed out that the cardinal has welcomed back into the fold businessman Jack Connors Jr., who had been ostracized by archdiocesan leadership after he criticized Cardinal Bernard F. Law's handling of clergy sexual abuse.
O'Malley came with nine aides and advisers, in an apparent effort to showcase his emerging inner circle, some of whom were not part of Law's administration. They included the Rev. Richard M. Erikson, an Air Force chaplain whom O'Malley has asked to become the new vicar general, or chief operating officer, of the diocese starting in mid-June, and the Rev. John J. Connolly, who served as Law's secretary and has become a close adviser to O'Malley as overseer of the archdiocese's efforts to respond to the abuse crisis. He also brought several laypeople who are key advisers, including attorney Thomas H. Hannigan, a partner at Ropes & Gray; HP Hood Inc. chairman and chief executive John A. Kaneb, who is a leader of the archdiocesan finance council; accountant John H. McCarthy, an adjunct lecturer in public policy at the Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government; and banker James F. O'Connor, the managing director and CEO of The Chartwell Co.
O'Malley said he wants to reach out to disenfranchised Catholics, especially those who have left over the abuse crisis. He is planning a major evangelization push to coincide with the bicentennial of the Archdiocese of Boston in 2008.
"Obviously we know that there are Catholics who have dissenting ideas on church doctrine, and in many ways, it's a great challenge to us to try and to educate and motivate people to understand what the church's teachings are," he said. "We need to do an awful lot more to help our people to understand what the church's teachings are."
Asked about diversity in the ranks of archdiocesan leadership, O'Malley said he has encouraged a search committee seeking to fill the position of archdiocesan chancellor, or business manager, to try to find a nun for the post. And he said he is trying to improve the representation of ethnic minorities on archdiocesan boards.
O'Malley scheduled the visit to follow his disclosure Wednesday of a broad array of financial data, a step he said he hopes will help restore trust in the archdiocese. He said, despite its financial woes, the archdiocese is not considering filing for bankruptcy, a step that has been pursued by several Catholic dioceses elsewhere in the country.
He said the closings of parishes has improved the archdiocese's financial situation, but not enough to forestall further cuts in staff and programs that are needed to reach his goal of balancing the budget over the next 18 months. And he said he still expects "sporadic" closings of very small parishes.
Kaneb asserted that the worst is over, saying, "I believe we have hit bottom, and I believe that we're actually climbing out of the hole, a deep hole."
O'Malley also, in stronger language than previously, promised to take care of retired priests despite a large unfunded pension liability. The archdiocese is still considering benefits cuts -- Kaneb suggested there could be changes to the housing or health care provisions for retired priests.
Last year, the archdiocese circulated a proposal to limit priest retirement benefits, but they have put that proposal on hold, in response to an outcry from priests and parishioners.
"No matter what it takes," O'Malley said, "we will take care of our priests."
Michael Paulson can be reached at mpaulson@globe.com.
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