Franciscan picked for scandal-torn Boston

Christian Century, July 26, 2003

A Franciscan priest-turned-bishop with the unmistakably Irish name of Sean Patrick O'Malley has been tapped to bring salve and solutions to the ravaged Boston Catholic Archdiocese where Cardinal Bernard Law had resigned in December for mishandling the priestly sex-abuse scandals.

O'Malley will arrive in the Bay State with almost impeccable credentials as a bishop who won praise for cleaning up sex scandals in two dioceses. In his ten years as bishop at Fall River, Massachusetts, near Rhode Island, that diocese had been scandalized by a serial molester-priest. Last year, O'Malley was named to Palm Beach, Florida, after two successive bishops quit, admitting to sex abuse.

Notified the evening of June 29 of the Vatican's appointing him to Boston, O'Malley appeared in Boston July 1 in the simple brown robe of his Franciscan order, saying he was "shell-shocked" at the news. "The path has never been easy but today it seems overwhelming," O'Malley, 59, said at a news conference. "Still, I feel privileged to be called to serve the church in Boston and hope that in some way I might be an instrument of peace and reconciliation in a church in need of healing."

O'Malley, who will be installed as archbishop within three months, takes over for Bishop Richard Lennon, who has served as interim leader since Law resigned. If O'Malley is elevated to cardinal, as expected, he will have a vote in electing the next pope.

The archdiocese has been devastated by the scandal. Nearly 500 abuse lawsuits are still pending, and a precipitious drop in donations has led to several rounds of budget cuts. One unusual lawsuit against the archdiocese--by the Catholic diocese of San Bernardino--will be withdrawn. Bishop Gerard R. Barnes of the California diocese, after talking with O'Malley, felt that the Boston see would take responsibility for hiding the sexual-molestation past of a transferred priest.

O'Malley told reporters July 1 that he intends to settle the outstanding lawsuits. "Even if I have been told there is no legal obligation, if there is a moral obligation, then we must step up to the plate," he said. "People's lives are more important than money." The bishop has hired Thomas H. Hannigan, a lawyer known for acting expeditiously in handling sexual-abuse cases, to advise him concerning the pending legal claims.

Victims groups said they would give O'Malley a chance, but any glowing reviews are "at best premature." Ann Hagan Webb, a New England coordinator for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, predicted a short honeymoon for O'Malley. "We have seen no evidence that O'Malley made any particularly courageous or innovative steps to heal victims or prevent future abuse," Webb said. "At no time over the past decade or over the past 18 months have we seen him take any notable national leadership on this issue."

Some lay reformers, however, were more optimistic about their new archbishop. "His record and experience as a proven 'fixer' are both gratefully acknowledged and sorely needed," said Steve Krueger, executive director of the Boston-based Voice of the Faithful movement. "We hope, pray and expect that Bishop O'Malley will apply the charisms and values of his Franciscan spiritual tradition to the challenges of healing and unifying our archdiocese." O'Malley, who previously served as bishop of the U.S. Virgin Islands, is a member of the Capuchin order of the Franciscans.--RNS