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	Local Auxiliary Bishop Tapped to Lead Bankrupt Iowa Diocese By David Briggs Cleveland Plain Dealer October 13, 2006 http://www.cleveland.com/living/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/living/1160729419111540.xml&coll=2 Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday turned to a popular Cleveland auxiliary bishop to take over an Iowa diocese that earlier this week filed for bankruptcy. Bishop Martin J. Amos, an Akron-based prelate who ministered to the southern part of the Cleveland Diocese, was appointed to replace retiring Bishop William E. Franklin as spiritual leader of the Davenport Diocese. The Davenport diocese, which has paid more than $10.5 million since 2004 to resolve dozens of sex-abuse claims against priests, on Tuesday became the fourth Catholic diocese in the country to file for bankruptcy. The others are Portland, Ore.; Tucson, Ariz.; and Spokane, Wash. In accordance with church pol icy, Franklin of fered his resig nation when he turned 75 in March 2005. Amos will be come the eighth bishop of the Davenport Diocese, which serves some 85 parishes with more than 100,000 members. He is to be installed Nov. 20. In brief prepared remarks in Davenport, Amos said he was sad about leaving Northeast Ohio, but excited about his new position. "Certainly God has been with me on many twists and turns in life, and I know that God is with me as I come here today," he said. Without elaborating, Amos also said the diocese's decision to declare bankruptcy has serious implications and spoke of the "need to continue to reach out to those touched by abuse and to continue to strengthen the protection of children and young people." Cleveland Bishop Richard Lennon asked area Catholics to "Please join with me in thanking God for the gifts of Bishop Martin Amos as bishop and priest of the Diocese of Cleveland for the past 38 years." Amos, 64, was pastor of St. Dominic Catholic Church in Shaker Heights from June 1985 until he became an auxiliary bishop in 2001. A Mass of thanksgiving and farewell is scheduled at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 9, at St. John Cathedral in Cleveland. To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: dbriggs@plaind.com, 216-999-4812
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