Possible
Law successor decries secrecy M Paulson,
Globe 3/29/03
The Church as ''a divinely established reality''
… it would be a mistake to attempt to shape The Church in the image of political institutions.
… warned against allowing the news media or interest
groups to shape the church.
By
Michael Paulson, Globe Staff, 3/29/2003
NEW
HAVEN -- Bishop Donald W. Wuerl of Pittsburgh, widely considered a strong
candidate to be the next archbishop of Boston, said yesterday the clergy sex
abuse scandal was largely caused by the culture of secrecy within the church
and he advocates greater openness, not fundamental change, as the solution to
the crisis.
Speaking
to a conference at Yale University, Wuerl acknowledged that his own future is
the subject of much discussion. Many church-watchers and clergy contend the
62-year-old Pittsburgh native will be the next archbishop of Boston or
Philadelphia because of his training in Rome, relationship with the Pope,
doctrinal conservatism, pastoral skills, and strong record on ousting sexually
abusive priests.
''I
would be quite happy with remaining right where I am, and not having to
contemplate that that wouldn't be the right order of things,'' he told an
audience gathered for a conference on ''Governance, Accountability and the
Future of the Church.''
Asked
later what he meant, Wuerl declined to talk further about his future, saying
''it's all speculation.''
In
a 60-minute address at Saint Thomas More Catholic Chapel and Center in New
Haven, Wuerl
made it quite clear that he does not see structural change as the solution to
the church crisis. He referred to The Church as ''a divinely established reality'' and said
''the hierarchy and the apostolic tradition are intrinsic to the church.'' He spoke derisively of
an unspecified Protestant denomination he said allowed congregations to vote on
whether or not to accept Jesus, and contended that it would be a mistake to
attempt to shape the church in the image of political institutions. He warned against
allowing the news media or interest groups to shape the church.
''While stockholders in a corporation may have the ultimate authority over the structure of the corporation itself, and while in a democracy sovereignty rests with the majority . . . neither of these models serves when we address the nature and function of the church,'' Wuerl said. ''We must be careful not to use a political model for a reality that transcends political institutions.''
In
the church, he said, ''we do not vote or take a head count to determine what we
should believe or how the church should be structured.''
What
does need to change, Wuerl argued, is the secrecy that has cloaked many church
decisions. ''The answer is openness,'' he said, ''sharing information . . . and
accepting the critique of others.''
He
called for the greater involvement of laypeople. Wuerl said the church should
look to the consultative bodies already in place, such as finance and pastoral
councils, to involve
laypeople in a role that he described as ''consultative'' and ''advisory.''
Wuerl,
who said he consulted with 10,000 laypeople who served on various committees
before closing a number of churches in Pittsburgh, said ''much of the origin of
the recent scandal . . . is rooted in the secrecy and confidentiality
surrounding not only the sexual crime itself, but the lack of information
involved in transferring priests to an assignment.''
Several times Wuerl warned against the role of the news media and interest groups in shaping the church.
''We've
all learned that in the collaborative process, information sharing,
consultation, consensus building, can all be rendered meaningless if we give in
to pressure groups, whether media driven or driven by any other purpose,'' he
said at one point. He also declared that ''appeals to media or special-interest
groups to bring pressure are really inappropriate for a faith community.''
The
most distinguishing item on Wuerl's rsum, given the crisis that has riven the
Boston Archdiocese and the American Catholic Church, is that he fought and won
a lengthy battle with the Vatican over his decision to oust an allegedly
abusive priest popular among the church's conservative wing.
That
confrontation began in 1993, when the Vatican's highest court ordered Wuerl to
reinstate the Rev. Anthony Cipolla, whom Wuerl had removed after the priest was
accused of molesting a teenage boy. The Vatican court, in a decision obtained
by the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, declared that the Saint Luke Institute,
where
Wuerl had sent Cipolla for evaluation, was ''founded by a priest who is openly
homosexual and based on a mixed doctrine of Freudian pansexualism and behaviorism,
[and] is
surely not a suitable institution apt to judge rightly about the beliefs and
the lifestyle of a Catholic priest.''
Wuerl
challenged the Vatican court, and two years later, then it reversed itself. And
Wuerl has removed abusive priests from the ministry, a practice he began nearly
15 years before the US Conference of Catholic Bishops made such a step
mandatory.
Several
things make him a likely candidate for archbishop in Boston. He has served as a
bishop in two dioceses, Seattle and Pittsburgh. He is old enough, 62, to be
seasoned, but young enough that he could make a significant mark before he is
required to retire at age 75.
He
has also studied and worked in Rome -- often an important criterion for
successful bishops. He is reportedly close to Pope John Paul II.
''Bishop
Wuerl is certainly a possibility if he is not being groomed for Philadelphia,''
said Chester Gillis, chairman of the theology department at Georgetown
University. ''He is known to the Vatican, very loyal to the Holy See, and an
experienced administrator.''
Wuerl
has a nationally syndicated television program, ''The Teaching of Christ''; has
published numerous books, including an adult catechism; and is a professor at
Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, his hometown.
Boston
has been without an archbishop since Dec. 13, when Cardinal Bernard F. Law
resigned over criticism of his failure to remove sexually abusive priests from
the ministry. Bishop Richard G. Lennon is serving as interim administrator of
the archdiocese, and Pope John Paul II has given no indication of when he
intends to name a new archbishop.
Michael
Paulson can be reached at mpaulson@globe.com.