Catholic Sensibility

Of bishops in Rochester NY and elsewhere For a good profile of the current bishop, a favorite of mine, click the link. More episcopal reflections ... Fulton Sheen was bishop of my home diocese 1966-69. When I worked in the Sheen archives during grad school, I learned he was one of the first to publicly criticize the Vietnam War. He was also a strong advocate for the inner city poor and tried to cultivate better race relations. Rochester is a fairly conservative city, so Sheen's time there was not completely smooth. He did advocate for a local pastor to be named bishop, so for the period of 1969-79, Joseph Hogan was head of the Rochester church. Bishop Clark was the first bishop I had ever met. We got him from Rome, and there was much nervousness about him the first few years. I was deeply impressed when he did the first confirmation for St Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish in our converted railroad depot in Hamlin NY. He seemed so prayerful and personable. He remembered my name as I appeared at various diocesan liturgies, and even inquired of the progress of my theological studies. I was very moved by his approach to the local listening sessions (1986-88?) for the now-scuttled USCCB pastoral letter on women. When my former home parish went into schism in 1998, I followed events via the net for months. But I had a dream about Bishop Clark, not my friends at Corpus Christi. I was exiting a stadium alone down some concrete steps, and he was sitting next to a landing with a radio at his side. I mentioned I was sorry for my parish causing him so much distress. He looked tired and bone-weary. (I'm sure he was so in real life.) But he said "thank you." I've known many other bishops through the years. Walter Sullivan of Richmond sat in on my interview at the parish where I met my wife. I sang in a choir next to Arthur O'Neill of Rockford. Jerome Hanus of Dubuque is my wife's favorite (and one of mine, too), as she cornered him at a lunch a few years back and had him talking about his racquetball and gardening hobbies. I criticize bishops on my web site often. But I also try to keep them in my prayers, even (or especially) the ones I consider incompetent, weak, misguided, or otherwise below average. I think the quality of bishops in the US has trailed off in recent years. New bishops seem to lack (as Clark did in 1979) real parish experience. Personalities are fine. Orthodoxy on issues is undeniable. But except in rare cases, leadership is really lacking, especially that quality that inspires followers. I don't think the USCCB needs a shot of radicals such as Tom Gumbleton as much as more moderate and strongly pastoral leaders who have parish experience, advanced education, and a deep spiritual life.