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	Imesch Era Ends By Ted Slowik The Herald News May 17, 2006 http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/heraldnews/top/4_1_JO17_BISHOP_S1.htm ROMEOVILLE — The Vatican on Tuesday named the replacement for Bishop Joseph Imesch, who is retiring after nearly 27 years as head of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet. Monsignor James Peter Sartain, 53, bishop of the Diocese of Little Rock, Ark., will be installed June 27 as Joliet's fourth bishop during a ceremony at the Cathedral of St. Raymond. Pope Benedict XVI accepted Imesch's resignation because the bishop will reach the mandatory retirement age of 75 on June 21, the Vatican said in a statement. Imesch told reporters at the diocese's St. Charles Borromeo Center that his departure was in no way related to criticism about his responses to reports of sexual abuse of minors by clergy. "It certainly has nothing to do with the sex abuse crisis. I'll be 75. That's the determining issue," he said. The bishop said he intends to remain in the Joliet area and help fellow priests after his retirement. "I may not be a great administrator, but I know I'm a good pastor," Imesch said. Reaction is mixed to word of Imesch's retirement, with some praising his pastoral leadership and others criticizing his response to reports that some priests were sexually abusing children. "His ongoing desire to encourage and develop parish leadership and to train a variety of participants in lay ministry has helped to build a strong and vibrant diocesan community of faith," said the Rev. Chris Groh, chairman of the Diocesan Presbyteral Council and pastor of St. Mary Nativity Church in Joliet. Imesch, who heads the diocese of 620,000 Catholics, has come under recent criticism from victims' advocates for his handling of allegations of sexual abuse by priests. In March, he bowed to pressure from advocates and announced the diocese would publish on its Web site the names of priests who have faced credible allegations that they sexually abused children. At the same time, Imesch apologized for remarks he made in a 2005 deposition related to a case that was unsealed in February. Imesch said in the deposition that he transferred to another parish a priest who skinny-dipped and played poker in the nude with young boys. The behavior was inappropriate, but was not sexual abuse, Imesch testified. "I know that some of my words in that deposition have caused pain to many in the Diocese and have hurt our Church," Imesch wrote in his apology. "For all the hurt I have caused by my words and decisions, by what I have done or ought to have done, I am truly sorry." The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests said Imesch's retirement won't guarantee reform. "The clerical culture of coverup that festered under Imesch's regime went deep," said SNAP President Barbara Blaine. "I think it's tempting for some to believe that things will suddenly and magically improve. Ultimately, that's reckless and wishful thinking." The role of women Imesch gained prominence as a bishop when, in 1992, he chaired a committee that drafted a pastoral letter on the role of women in the church. The vote by bishops, however, fell short of the two-thirds majority needed to gain the authority of an official church position on the issue. The lay group Call To Action, which advocates reforming policies regarding ordination of women and married priests, said it had "mixed regard" for Imesch. "We recognize his leadership within the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, in particular his service on the ... Committee on Women in Society and the Church," the group said in a statement. "Nonetheless we are also aware that many Catholics suffered deeply from his severe mishandling of priests accused of sexual abuse." Many years of regard Imesch was regarded as a caring, spiritual leader for most of his tenure in Joliet, but has been dogged in recent years by criticism that he allowed sexual predators to have continued access to children. On Tuesday, he again chided the media for unfairly characterizing his conduct, calling press reports "not honest or accurate." "The last few years haven't been the best as far as I'm concerned," he said. "I think there's much more to my ministry than the last two years." Joliet's third bishop Imesch was born in Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich., according to a profile on the diocese's Web site. He received a bachelor's degree from Sacred Heart Seminary High School and College in Detroit, and a licentiate in sacred theology from the North American College in Rome. He was ordained in 1956 in Rome. He became the third bishop of the Joliet Diocese on Aug. 28, 1979, after serving as auxiliary bishop of Detroit and regional bishop of the Northwest Region. At the time, Joliet was the nation's ninth largest diocese, according to Herald News files.
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