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	Outspoken Bishop Plans to Retire at 75 Michigan Native an Advocate for Women in Church By David Crumm Detroit Free Press [Joliet IL] May 17, 2006 http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060517/NEWS05/605170430/1007 Bishop Joseph Imesch, a Michigan native now based in Illinois and one of the nation's most widely known Catholic leaders, will retire just days after his 75th birthday in June, Imesch announced Tuesday. Pope Benedict XVI is moving Bishop J. Peter Sartin from the Diocese of Little Rock, Ark., to the Diocese of Joliet, Ill. On June 27, six days after Imesch's birthday, Sartin will be installed in Joliet. "Joe Imesch is one of the guys from Detroit who helped to spread the message of the Second Vatican Council to the larger church," the Rev. Daniel Murphy, a retired priest from Livonia and one of Imesch's friends, said Tuesday. In the 1960s, Detroit Cardinal John Dearden was at the center of the Vatican Council, which welcomed many changes in the church, including celebrating mass in languages other than Latin. Imesch was born in 1931 in Grosse Pointe Farms and ordained in 1956. From 1959 to 1971, he served as Dearden's secretary. In 1973, Dearden ordained him as an auxiliary bishop for Detroit. In 1979, he became bishop of Joliet. Imesch could not be reached Tuesday, but he has been an outspoken Catholic leader for many years. In the 1980s, he was assigned by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops to research a pastoral letter on the concerns of Catholic women. "He worked so hard on that, but, unfortunately, he didn't find enough support among the bishops," Murphy said. The ill-fated effort did lead to Catholic discussion groups about women's issues, organized in dioceses across the United States, but the bishops' conference never was able to reach a consensus on a final draft of the letter. In recent years, Imesch has been widely criticized for not being aggressive enough in rooting out sexually abusive priests. In March, he publicly apologized for insensitive statements he made about the sexual abuse of minors. Contact DAVID CRUMM at 313-223-4526 or dcrumm@freepress.com.
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