BishopAccountability.org
	Public's Views on Imesch Vary By Ted Slowik Daily Southtown May 21, 2006 http://www.dailysouthtown.com/southtown/dsnews/218abn1.htm From day one, Bishop Joseph Imesch has preached forgiveness. On Aug. 28, 1979, Joseph Leopold Imesch was installed as the third bishop of the Joliet Diocese by the late John Cardinal Cody, archbishop of Chicago. During the ceremony, Imesch relayed a message from his predecessor, the ailing Bishop Romeo Blanchette. "He asked me to tell you of his great love and admiration for all," Imesch told the audience of dignitaries gathered in St. Raymond Cathedral in Joliet. "He thanks you as a shepherd and a priest. He asked to be forgiven for any wrongs he may have inflicted on any of you. And finally, he asks that you pray for him as he prays for you." Of late, Imesch has sought forgiveness himself, from people who were sexually abused by Joliet priests when they were children. He's also appealed to faithful parishioners who felt betrayed by his response to reports of sordid sexual escapades. The sexual abuse crisis has dominated discussion about Imesch during the twilight of his career, overshadowing his earlier achievements. While bishop, Imesch championed women's rights and acceptance of homosexuals by the church. While in Detroit in 1974, he and fellow Bishop Thomas Gumbleton sent a letter to gay-rights advocate Brian McNaught, saying the Catholic Church has "a serious obligation to root out structures and attitudes that discriminate against the homosexual as a person. We will exert our leadership in behalf of this effort. We hope for your continued cooperation with us in trying to achieve this goal." Under Imesch, the Joliet Diocese sponsored speakers who advocate inclusion of gay Catholics. "We're sorry to see a good person retire. He's done a lot of great work for the church," said Debra Weill, executive director of Dignity USA, a group that lobbies for acceptance of gays within the Catholic Church. As leader of a committee that drafted a pastoral letter on women, Imesch played a prominent role at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops meeting in 1992. Despite his attempts to seek common ground on the issue, bishops who favored an increased role for women in the church remained at odds with others who feared offending the Vatican, author Thomas Reese wrote in the Catholic journal "America." In an unprecedented vote, the bishops rejected the pastoral letter. "This is the first letter ever to be defeated on the floor of the conference," Reese wrote. "The vote became a referendum on women's ordination and the teaching office of bishops rather than on the content of the letter. This was exactly what Bishop Imesch had tried to avoid." Reese, a Jesuit priest on sabbatical from Santa Clara University in California, said last week that Imesch was a "terrific bishop." "I think he will be remembered as somebody who was very pastoral. He was reaching out to some who felt abandoned by the church, or excluded. He wanted to let them know that they were part of the church, and to stay with the church." Imesch practiced what he preached, appointing women to key administrative posts traditionally held by men, including chancellor and vicar for religious. Women also head numerous diocesan agencies, including Catholic Charities, schools and the diocesan newspaper. "In the old days, vicar for religious was an office only exercised by priests," said Sister Judith Davies, chancellor. "One of the bishop's strengths is that he recognizes the gifts that both men and women hold. He's going to select the best candidate, not based on gender." Imesch's liberal hegemony drew criticism from Orthodox Catholics concerned about eroding traditional values. Imesch's position on homosexuality defies official church teachings, said Steven Brady of Roman Catholic Faithful. Brady, whom Imesch dismisses as a fanatic, documented Imesch's mishandling of priests involved in sexual abuse cases years before the crisis broke worldwide in 2002. "It's unfortunate the Vatican waited until his mandatory retirement age to replace him," Brady said. "That's a disgrace. Clearly there was enough evidence to replace him years ago." Imesch parlayed his likable personality, warm sense of humor and public speaking skills to his advantage and developed deep connections with many supporters over the years. He could defuse casual inquiries from parishioners about misdeeds, and his sincere-sounding assurances could silence all but the harshest critics. For 23 years, he successfully managed to quell any uproar about pedophile priests and prevent a scandal from occurring, even as a half-dozen Joliet priests were convicted for sex crimes or named in lawsuits during the 1980s and 1990s. All that changed in 2002. Between April and June that year, 10 priests associated with the diocese were removed from ministries because of sex-abuse allegations. The diocese's long string of legal victories and protective orders that shielded documents from public view was cracked when a Will County judge ordered the release of files about former priest Larry Gibbs. A different view began to emerge of Imesch, one that showed a leader fiercely protective of his priests. In a 2005 deposition, Imesch admitted he withheld information from authorities about clerics accused of sex crimes. "I'm not going to say, 'hey, police, go check on my priest,'" he said in the deposition. Documents also revealed that short of rape, Imesch considered most other forms of sexual abuse to be "inappropriate" conduct. "That was an unfortunate use of the word. It indicated I minimized what took place, or condoned it. I did not," Imesch said during a press conference last week, when Little Rock Bishop J. Peter Sartain was introduced as his replacement. Those who know the bishop as a pastor view him as a caring, compassionate individual. But many who summoned the courage to tell Imesch that they were sexually abused by his priests tell a different tale. And family members of abused people relate similar tales of arrogance, intimidation and other forms of mistreatment by Imesch. "Every survivor who has gone to the diocese for help or to report abuse has received a rebuke, been met with conspicuous indifference or outright denial," said Minneapolis attorney Jeff Anderson, who represents people who are suing the diocese. "There's a long history of intimidation and coercion." A 1962 Vatican directive instructed bishops to handle sex-abuse claims "in the most secretive way." Critics would say Imesch was simply good at executing the church's approach to the issue. Other bishops were even better at carrying out what has proven to be a disastrous desire to avoid scandal at all costs. Imesch wasn't even included when the group Bishop Accountability called for the resignations of 10 U.S. bishops because of their handling of the sex abuse crisis. The Joliet Diocese chapter of the lay group Voice of the Faithful communicated these concerns in a February letter to Archbishop Pietro Sambi, the apostolic nuncio to the United States, when it called for Joliet's next bishop to "be a man of common sense, truth and transparency." "It is essential that he commit himself to protecting our children, even at the expense of bad publicity. It should be clear by now to all that cover-ups don't work, that in fact they only serve to worsen the anguish," group leaders wrote. Imesch's blunt candor caused him trouble at times, and not only when he was answering questions under oath. At the bishop's conference in 2002, he told a TV crew from Detroit that he thought Boston Cardinal Bernard Law should step down. "In conversation among the bishops, it was more than one that felt (Law) should resign, but no one said that publicly but Joe Imesch," Imesch told The Associated Press at the time. "It was probably not good judgment on my part to say that ... I regret having said what I said." Coming weeks will no doubt include debate about how Imesch will be honored, and what his legacy will be, upon his retirement. Local representatives of the Illinois House — which has approved resolutions honoring accomplishments far more mundane than 27 years of service as leader of more than half a million Catholics — said there are no immediate plans to sponsor a resolution commending Imesch. Local Catholic institutions that are undertaking significant capital projects — Provena Saint Joseph Medical Center and Lewis University — said there are no plans at this point to put Imesch's name on a building. The University of St. Francis said it will continue to annually give a parochial school educator the Bishop Joseph L. Imesch Award for Excellence in Teaching, an honor begun in 2000. "The award is named for him because of his great support for Catholic education," USF spokeswoman Nancy Pohlman said. "In honor of his retirement, we will be naming a lecture series after him because of the many years he spent helping to define the role of women within the church." Imesch said his retirement upon reaching age 75 has nothing to do with his handling of the sexual abuse crisis. "I'm comfortable with what I tried to do," he said. "Maybe I was not always the best, but like all of you, I do the best I can. I'm comfortable with meeting the Lord, whenever that comes, and giving an account of my stewardship."
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