Latest News from CCCR

Friends,

Synodality is a progressive Vatican II idea and our Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis is giving the laity the unique opportunity to have discussions on what is important to us regarding the future of our Church.

Three areas have been targeted for small group discussions in six weekly sessions at your parishes:

1) Forming parishes that are in the service of evangelization.

2) Forming missionary disciples who know Jesus’ love and respond to his call.

3) Forming youth and young adults in and for a Church that is always young.


Even though these areas will be given the most attention, you may want to bring up other concerns that can lead to change that are not under the authority of the archdiocese but may be the impetus to get the attention of Pope Francis and the Vatican. This year the Catholic Church for Church Reform (CCCR) has focused on communion for all and women’s ordination and you may want them to be your focus as well. Your input is welcome and will be heard if you make your ideas clear. It is important to be succinct in wording your concerns and suggestions (20 words or less) when you summit them.

Keep the Synod and all who participate in the process in your prayers. We can have confidence that the Holy Spirit will stir things up and shake the Church into renewal.

– CCCR Board

NOTE: There is one regular monthly effort of CCCR that can assist you in staying informed and involved in matters affecting Catholics in the Archdioceset of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. If interested, CCCR invites you to join the CCCR Lay Network – a growing community of Vatican II Catholics. The Lay Network came into being to facilitate communication and dialogue within this community and the archdiocese. Once you have registered, you will begin to receive the Lay Network Update, a monthly email newsletter containing brief and topical information for your consideration on matters of importance in our Church (the above "Latest News" was excerpted from the September Lay Network Update). You will also be informed about what CCCR is doing, thinking about and working on. In addition, CCCR, will keep you informed about special events that we have information about and events that CCCR is planning, sponsoring and/or collaborating on with others. Recieving the Lay Network Update monthly is a step toward connecting us within our parishes and deaneries to be better able to serve as a strong voice in matters of concern in our archdiocese. To join the Lay Network, complete the brief registration form that can be found here.

See also the previous posts:
• Our Next Archbishop: What Would You Ask a Candidate If You Knew Your Voice Would Be Heard?
• CCCR Responds to the Resignation of Archbishop Nienstedt
• Local Catholics Discuss the Need for a "Healthy Christian Theology of Sexuality"
• Twin Cities Catholics Respond to Pope Francis' Invitation and Speak Out on Sexual Issues
• Lay Coalition Nominates Seven Clergy to Be New Twin Cities Archbishop
• Save the Date: Synod of the Baptized, September 28, 2013
• Countdown to Synod 2013 – Part 1: When, Where, Why, What!
• Countdown to Synod 2013 – Part 2: Sister Gail Worcelo
• Countdown to Synod 2013 – Part 3: Evolutionary Spirituality
• Countdown to Synod 2013 – Part 4: Media Coverage of Synod 2013 and CCCR
• Countdown to Synod 2013 – Part 5: Synod 2013 Break-Out Sessions
• Countdown to Synod 2013 – Part 6: The "New Story" at the Heart of Evolutionary Spirituality
• A Pre-Synod Get-Together
• Actions to Take to Be the Church We Want to See

Quote of the Day

The President said today that he will “override the governors” and force states to allow churches to open. Churches should not be opened (or closed) by order of a president, but because it is safe to do so. To open churches before it is safe would needlessly put more lives at risk. And that would be the opposite of pro-life. Governors and religious leaders should follow the advice of public health experts and epidemiologists to help prevent the spread of infection and preserve life. Everyone wants to go back to church, including me, but not at the risk of increased infection and death, especially among the most vulnerable.

Churches are indeed essential for Christians, and the desire to worship together is a holy desire. But holy though your desire may be, it's not just about you and your desire. It's about protecting the other person, especially if you are, like many people, asymptomatic. Wearing masks, maintaining social distance and even not gathering in churches protects the other person.

There have already been confirmed cases in Texas and Minnesota where Catholic churches have opened and the priests were found to have been unknowingly infected. Coming into contact with their parishioners, and exposing them to infection, may end up causing deaths, especially among the most vulnerable – the elderly, who often make up the majority of churchgoers.

I'm not sure why this is so hard to understand. If you have the measles and a doctor says, “Don't go to church because you might infect a woman who is pregnant, ” you don't rail at your doctor for “impinging on your freedom.” You listen to the doctor, make the sacrifice, and stay home, as a way of protecting the other person.

All these preventive actions are ways of caring of the other person – that is, ways of loving.

– James Martin, SJ
via Facebook
May 22, 2020

Related Off-site Links:
Minnesota Church Groups Divided on Govenor Tim Walz's Orders – Jean Hopfensperger (Star Tribune May 22, 2020).
Minnesota's Catholic Bishops Say They'll Defy Walz's Limits on Church Attendance – MPR News (May 20, 2020).
Not Attending Church Won't Kill Anyone, But Rushing to Reopen Might – Jennifer Brooks (Star Tribune, May 22, 2020).
Pro-Trump Doctors to Promote Reopening States Despite CDC Warnings – Democracy Now! (May 22, 2020).
Churches Obsessed With Their Right to Reopen Are Missing the Point – Peter W. Marty (The Christian Century, May 18, 2020).

Archbishop Bernard Hebda Has Embraced Minnesota – and His Flock

– Brian Peterson, Star Tribune

By Jean Hopfensperger

NOTE: The following is excerpted from Jean Hopfensperger's October 11, 2017 Star Tribune article/interview. To read By Hopfensperger interview with Archbishop Hebda in its entirety, click here.

Archbishop Bernard Hebda did not see it coming. The day the Vatican announced he would become the Twin Cities’ new archbishop, he stood before a hastily prepared news conference inside the Cathedral of St. Paul and quipped that if he’d been warned, “I would have brought a better suit and made sure I had a haircut.”

His sartorial selection was the least of his worries on that day last year. The gregarious Hebda, sent to Minnesota months earlier for what was to be a temporary assignment, was suddenly in charge of an archdiocese reeling from a priest sex abuse scandal, bankruptcy, criminal charges filed by Ramsey County, and distrust in the pews. The previous archbishop, John Nienstedt, had resigned under controversy.

More than a year later, the ship has reached calmer waters. The Pittsburgh-born prelate has gained a reputation for spiritual and intellectual depth, thanks in part to degrees from Harvard University and Columbia Law School as well as working 13 years at the Vatican. Although he was being groomed to be archbishop of Newark, New Jersey, when he landed here, Hebda is now planted firmly in his 800,000-member Twin Cities archdiocese. He has embraced Minnesota living, including the Minnesota State Fair, Basilica Block Party, Red Bull Crashed Ice race and countless parish festivals. This interview has been condensed from a longer discussion with the archbishop.


[. . .] Have you met Pope Francis?

I’ve only met him a handful of times. I had the chance to meet him when he came to the United States [in 2015]. I had introduced myself as the coadjutor in Newark and as the [temporary] administrator in St. Paul and Minneapolis. He said, “I know. I did that to you!” That was a great laugh. I think it’s amazing with all his responsibilities, he has a sense of what’s going on.

And when I was sent to Newark, I just happened to be in Rome with a pilgrimage group [and met him]. I said “Do you have any advice?” He said “Talk talk talk. Listen listen listen.” It was great advice in Newark and great advice here as well. When we were doing those listening sessions, that’s what I had in mind.


You landed here as the St. Paul and Minneapolis Archdiocese was making national headlines for a sex abuse scandal. What were the toughest decisions you made?

Some of those major decisions were when we were entering into the settlement agreement with Ramsey County. (The county had filed criminal charges against the archdiocese for failure to protect children — a first in the nation.) Trying to discern what was the right path. I think part of it was being willing to recognize that we had hurt people in the past and being willing to say that, which I think made some people nervous. Certainly some lawyers. But at the same time it seemed the right thing to do. And as we were in discussions with the Ramsey County attorney’s office, that was important for them that we would do that.


When lawyers revealed that more than 400 clergy sex abuse claims had been filed over the three years ending in May 2016, you looked a bit shell shocked. How did that affect your faith?

It didn’t really shake it at all. It did give me a strong conviction that the task here is not only to prevent abuse but also to sustain our priests in a way that they’re able to lead healthy lives.


Have you met any survivors of clergy sex abuse? What did you learn from them?

The first thing I’ve learned is that no two survivors are the same, that you can’t lump people into one category. Especially with those that I’ve been working with recently, it’s learning from them how the past abuse continues to have an impact on their lives — whether it be in their marriages, whether it be in their relationship to God. And then in a positive way, to know there are many [survivors] who are really committed to helping the church not only do better but also to reach out to others in a way that’s helpful.


So there’s a group of survivors you meet with regularly?

There’s a little group, and I’ve met with them. Other people on my staff meet with them more frequently. Some of it is just individuals, as well, who just want to come talk to the bishop. Often they have suggestions for what we need to do moving forward in a positive way.


What is the best and hardest part about being an archbishop?

The difficult part is when you’re asked to lead a church that you don’t really know that well. It obviously takes time to get to know not only the people but also the history, and what’s distinct about it. And to see how the limited gifts God has given me were intended to help the church. I had the experience when I was sent to Gaylord, a rural diocese, and then when I was sent to Newark, a very urban diocese. In each of those cases you’re kind of plucked out of your comfort zone and then asked to lead.

The good part is you have the opportunity to see how it is that the Lord uses your gifts, how the Lord guides his church even in difficult times. One of the things that I’ve seen is that in spite of the great needs that we have, we also have people who are really very well prepared to begin to address them.


[. . .] The archdiocese filed for bankruptcy in January 2015. What are your priorities for an archdiocese on more stable financial footing?

During the listening sessions [held last year with area Catholics] we heard about the need for transparency and we’ve already been trying to address those things. People were concerned that we need to do more evangelization. So the question of Catholic schools is pressing. One idea we’ve talked about here is a diocesan synod. It would be a way to get broader input on our priorities. It’s a huge undertaking. That would be one of the first things we want to do, and would set the stage moving forward.


Is there anything else you’d like to say?

Just that I’m really happy to be here. Granted this isn’t all about my happiness. But I really felt very welcomed here, even by those people that disagree with some of the things that the church might teach. Even in some of those difficult conversations with survivors of abuse, I always get the sense that people are interested in really entering into dialogue. For me, that’s great.


See also the previous posts:
• A Message from Archbishop Hebda Regarding President Trump's Executive Order on Immigration Ban
• Bernard Hebda Named Archbishop of Twin Cities Archdiocese
• Twin Cities Catholics Get Rare Chance to Make Archbishop Recommendations to Vatican
• CCCR Representatives Meet with Archbishop Hebda

Remembering Terry Dosh, 1930-2016

It is with great sadness that the PCV editorial team shares news of the death of local theologian and church historian Terry Dosh.

Terry died earlier today, Thursday, April 7, 2016, after a long struggle with Parkinson's Disease.

A married priest and a well-respected church historian and theologian, Terry was a dedicated advocate for church reform for close to half-a-century.

Inspired by the vision of church launched by Vatican II, Terry began research on mandatory celibacy in 1962.

This led him to significant involvement over the next four decades with numerous church reform organizations, including CORPUS, the International Federation of Married Priests, Call to Action Minnesota, and various other Catholic organizations for renewal. He also helped found the Association for the Rights of Catholics in the Church (ARCC) in 1980, serving on its board for 24 years.

From 1975 until just a few years ago, Terry edited and published four church reform newsletters, the last being Bread Rising. He also taught church history, scripture, and justice and peace topics extensively in parishes and other forums throughout the Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis.

Terry will be greatly missed by all who knew him, and our thoughts are especially with his wife Millie and their family.

Rest in Peace, Terry . . . And thank you for your scholarly and prophetic voice, one that has inspired countless people within the local church of St. Paul-Minneapolis and beyond.

_____________________________

NOTE: In 2010, Terry was a recipient of the Catholic Coalition for Church Reform's inaugural Adsum Award, presented at the Synod of the Baptized, "Claiming Our Place at the Table." For commentary and images, click here.

Also, to read Terry's April 2008 review of Karl Rahner's three-epoch theory of Christian history, click here.

In closing, here is Peter Shea's 1999 interview with Terry Dosh.





Related Off-site Links:
Terry Dosh, Married Priest Activist, Dies at Age 85 – National Catholic Reporter (April 11. 2016).
Terry Dosh, Who Led Movement for Married Priests, Dies at 85 – Maura Lerner (Star Tribune, April 11. 2016).
Voice Nearly Gone, His Life Still Speaks – Todd Svanoe (Everyday Heroes, 2012).

Images 1 and 3: Michael Bayly (2010).
Image 2: Courtesy of the Dosh family.

Bernard Hebda Named Archbishop of Twin Cities Archdiocese

Note: The following letter from Archbishop-Designate Hebda was released March 24, 2016 by the Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

When I arrived in Minnesota for the first time last June, I was but a visitor – assigned as Apostolic Administrator to help with the operations of the Archdiocese until Pope Francis named a new Archbishop. In the nine months since then, I have been blessed to witness your deep faith and your commitment to Christ’s Church, His people, and the Eucharist. I consider many of you friends.

That is why it is with joy that I tell you of Pope Francis’ decision to appoint me as the next Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. The Pope and the Holy Spirit evidently had different plans for me than I had anticipated, and I am humbled and honored to be named your shepherd.

I know from my nine months in the Archdiocese that there is much work yet to be done to overcome the significant challenges we continue to face, but I am firm in my conviction that the Lord is truly present here, even in our struggles. The exceptional staff and leadership team at the Archdiocese, along with our strong priests, committed religious, and dynamic lay leaders are all reasons for great hope. You all seem to work tirelessly to serve Christ and His people no matter where they are found and for that I am most grateful.

It has already been an honor serving you and I very much look forward to continuing to serve you and this vibrant community for as long as the Lord sees fit.

Now more than ever, I will be counting on your prayers and support. Be assured of my prayers for you, your families, and this local Church.

Sincerely in Christ,

Most Reverend Bernard A. Hebda
Apostolic Administrator and Archbishop-Designate
Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis

Related Off-site Links:
Archbishop Hebda Named Archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis – Maria Wiering (The Catholic Spirit, March 24, 2016).
Interim Bernard Hebda Named Archbishop of Twin Cities Archdiocese – Tim Harlow and Jean Hopfensperger (Star Tribune, March 24, 2016).
Hebda Named Archbishop of Twin Cities Archdiocese – Tim Nelson and Riham Feshir (MPR News, March 24, 2016).
Feeling the "Bern," for Good – Pope Names Hebda as Twin Cities Archbishop – Rocco Palmo (Whispers in the Loggia, March 24, 2016).
No Longer Administrator, How Might Hebda Change as Twin Cities Archbishop? – Brian Roewe (National Catholic Reporter, March 24, 2016).

See also the previous PCV posts:
• CCCR Representatives Meet with Interim Archbishop Hebda
• Good News! – Interim Archbishop Hebda to Hold Listening Sessions on Leadership Needs
• Twin Cities Catholics Get Rare Chance to Make Archbishop Recommendations to Vatican

What is Pope Francis’ Intent for Divorced and LGBT Catholics? We May Be About to Find Out

By Michelle Boorstein

Note: This article was first published March 18, 2016 by The Washington Post. There is a connection to the local church of St. Paul-Minneapolis in that Massimo Faggioli, a church historian who directs the Institute for Catholicism and Citizenship at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, is quoted. Of course, what's glaringly absent from this article is any commentary from women, LGBT people or divorced Catholics.

Pope Francis has a reputation for opening the Catholic Church’s doors when it comes to concepts of family. The next few weeks may clarify just how far he intends to open them.

On Saturday, the Vatican says, Francis will finalize a highly-anticipated teaching document on family issues that has been 1 ½ years in the making — including two closely-watched meetings of top bishops. The document isn’t expected to be released to the public for a few weeks, but pundits, priests and laypeople will be flipping through furiously as soon as possible to see how Francis proposes bringing more fully into church life Catholics who are LBGT, divorced-and-remarried, and cohabiting outside marriage.

Based on recent hints dropped by the pope and other top advisers, expert church-watchers believe Francis will attempt the papal version of skating’s triple-axle: not changing orthodox doctrine on anything but altering practice and rules enough to give different types of Catholic families new affirmation that they are a legitimate part of the Church.

Francis has made many powerful gestures and comments in the three years since he was elected that have made him an icon. But the time and resources he has put into this Apostolic Exhortation on the family is unique, and experts say the standing of his papacy – and its future — may be riding on it.

“This the most important test for this pope to show us how he deals with dissent in the church, how he deals with divided issues,” said Massimo Faggioli [right], a church historian who directs the Institute for Catholicism and Citizenship at the University of St. Thomas, a Catholic school in St. Paul.

Faggioli said the conversation Francis launched through the two high-profile meetings, called synods, at which he encouraged dissent, “was the most important moment in the church in the last 50 years. This was the biggest sign of hope that in the Catholic Church there are ideas and we can talk about it. No one before Francis ever had the courage to think about that.”

Since the pope launched this process in the fall of 2014, much focus has been on the practicalities, in particular whether he would create ways so that the millions of disaffected Catholics who are divorced and remarried outside the Church can fully return, including receiving the core ritual of Communion. Regardless of what happens – or doesn’t — with any specific changes to practice, experts predicted the goal of Francis’ paper will be to make a much more sweeping statement about the importance of families. It could be similar in its radical scope, some said, to the document the Argentinian Jesuit issued last spring about the environment.

“The document will identify the current stresses on family life from poverty, migration and war, as well as the hostile legal and cultural framework of contemporary Western society, which Francis calls ‘ideological colonization,’” Francis biographer Austen Ivereigh predicted earlier this month in a piece for the Catholic publication Our Sunday Visitor. Francis will rail against what he has called “destructive” ideologies based on isolating Catholics from the mainstream culture, Ivereigh wrote. “The exhortation will be an uplifting tribute to the enduring power and beauty of family life, offering support and consolation to those struggling against fierce contemporary headwinds to hold families together,” Ivereigh said.

John Allen [left], editor of the Catholic site Crux and a longtime Vatican writer, said Francis may be trying to make a change that is undramatic in the short term but impactful in the long run, similar to when Pope John Paul held the first World Youth Day in the 1980’s. Back then, Allen said, very few dioceses even had something called youth ministry. “It wasn’t even a category. The church didn’t even think about it,” he said. Now, the Catholic Church and other faiths pour huge resources into thinking about how to engage young people.

Allen predicted the document will get far more attention in the West, where culture war issues about marriage and sexual mores are more on the front burner. In much of the rest of the Catholic world – now the fastest-growing parts of the church are in Africa and Asia – the document will be read differently and be seen as less dramatic, he said.

Concretely, Allen predicted the paper “will have huge symbolic and media resonance but won’t change much on the ground.”

Bishops at the synods agreed that families need much more focus, including, for example, increased marriage preparation. But they were clearly divided on things like Communion for the divorced-and-remarried and what language to use to be more welcoming of gays and lesbians and families who live together outside marriage.

There are more than 5,000 bishops around the world, Allen noted, who already take different approaches on these topics. “If you were inclined to take a flexible position, you already were. If you were inclined to take a hard line, you were.”

Pope Francis appeared to tip his hat last month during a plane press conference on the way back from Mexico, when he was asked about divorced and remarried couples. “All doors are open, but we cannot say that these people can take Communion…integration into the Church does not mean allowing people to take Communion,” he said before citing with disapproval divorced couples who “go to church once or twice a year and say, ‘I want to receive Communion,’ as if it were some prize.”

However, Monday, Cardinal Walter Kasper [right], a prominent theologian whose work Francis has often cited, said in a speech in Italy that Francis will “definitively express himself on family issues addressed during the last Synod, and in particular on the participation of the divorced and remarried faithful in the active life of the Catholic community,” the National Catholic Register reported, citing the Italian paper Il Terreno. Kasper was quoted as saying the exhortation will represent “the first step in a reform” that will mark the “turning of a page” in the Church’s history “after 1,700 years.”

“We must not repeat past formulas and barricade ourselves behind the wall of exclusivism and clericalism,” Kasper told the audience, according to Il Terreno. The Church must live in the current times and “know how to interpret them,” he said.

A key topic that experts can’t predict is how Francis will deal with a concept the synods called “the internal forum,” or the moral process of examining one’s own conscience within the framework of the church that allows for a sense of repentance while maintaining involvement in church life. The second and most recent synod, in the fall, talked about how Catholics might use the internal forum in conversation with a priest and be able to come to Communion — even in untraditional situations.

How Francis handles all this could say a lot about his standing going forward.

“The hard right both in the church and outside hasn’t liked this pope from the start. This may be the hard left deciding it doesn’t either,” said Allen, who described Francis as a “doctrinal moderate and a pastoral revolutionary.” The pope “wants the most tolerant application” of church teaching, he said.

Faggioli said many Catholics are anxious for a more radical change.

“In three years there is a lot he has accomplished. But there is a lot he has not accomplished,” he said. The synods and the paper that comes from them constitute “one of the most important moments in his pontificate, and how he gets out of this moment of fierce disagreement, [what] comes out of that will say a lot.”

Council of the Babtized's Open Forum Continues with Focus on Parish Life

Is your parish the heart of your Catholic life? This is the question that will be explored at the Council of the Baptized's March 8 open forum when Jerry Roth, Executive Director of the Center for Parish Leadership, will present a vision of the parish as "the heart of Catholic life."

Roth will explore several themes including the role of the Archdiocese in supporting vibrant parishes, a return to the simplicity of our Catholic parish mission, and key characteristics that form the foundation of a modern parish and the relationships of its key stakeholders.

When: Tuesday, March 8
7:00 - 8:00 p.m.

Where: Gloria Dei Church
700 Snelling Ave So, St. Paul, 55116

In light of the Council of the Baptized's March 8 open forum on parish life, here are some insightful quotes from a number of books all about parish life and leadership. These quotes are taken from the resource page of the Center for Parish Life website.

Unfortunately, it is all too easy for us, priests and laity alike, to forget that we are church. As a result, we get trapped in winning rather than serving, in success rather than holiness, and in tasks rather than Gospel. And, quite possibly, our greatest weakness - we forget to be joyful. Consider this proven reality: the quality of our ministry is determined by the quality of our spirituality.

– Mary Benet McKinney, OSB
Excerpted from Learners and Leaders:
A Spirituality for Board Members

In most guidelines, the pastor is typically the consensus builder, the spiritual leader, and the creator of trust. He fosters a sense of community in the council by serving, that is, by helping the council achieve its ends in regular meetings.

– Mark F. Fischer
Excerpted from Pastoral Councils in Today's Catholic Parish

Parishioners who serve on a parish pastoral council must be those who have received a call to the ministry of leadership. Together with the pastor, these are individuals who are capable of reflection, discernment, visioning, reaching consensus, and pastoral planning. . . . The purpose of revisioning the council is primarily the development of mission-focused parishes, rather than programmatic or finance-driven ones. . . . When there is clear awareness of this 'larger vision' proposed by the gospels and taught by the Church, a parish finds itself energized by a sense of mission and directed to matters that will do more than simply fill the annual calendar.

– Mary Ann Gubish and Susan Jenny, S.C.
Excerpted from Revisioning The Parish Pastoral Council

A first concern of the Good News pastor is to empower the people among who he ministers to lead. . . . Building trust requires that the pastor focus his energy on equipping the people of the parish to fill their proper role in the parish's governance and enabling the staff of the parish, along with parishioners, to fulfill their proper role to serve and witness in gospel ministry for the sake of and on behalf of the church's mission to the world.

– Michael L. Papesh
Excerpted from Good News Parish Leadership,
Trust-Building Guidelines, Tools, and Ideas

Even Tougher Battle Ahead for Maverick Priest the Rev. Mike Tegeder

By Jon Tevlin

Note: This op-ed was first published March 1, 2016 by the Star Tribune.

For years, the Rev. Mike Tegeder [right] publicly fought what many considered unbeatable foes: the Catholic Church hierarchy and former Archbishop John Nienstedt. Tegeder was one of the biggest critics of the church’s attempts to block gay marriage, a stance that frequently threatened his status as priest at his two Minneapolis churches, St. Frances Cabrini and Gichitwaa Kateri.

Nienstedt is long gone, gay marriage passed overwhelmingly in Minnesota and Tegeder remains a beloved figure in his congregations. But now he is publicly fighting an even bigger opponent.

Last month, Tegeder shared a message with his congregations on the meaning of Ash Wednesday: “Remember that you are dust, and unto dust you shall return.” Then he dropped the bomb: “This always has an impact for me but this year even more. On the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, I got a call from my doctor telling me that a CT scan of me came back showing lung cancer with metastatic growth into my ribs and spine and abdomen. It was a shock.”

An updated post expressed some optimism because the type of lung cancer was less aggressive than expected, but on Sunday Tegeder added more bad news: Tests showed a small patch of cancer on the lining of his brain.

Since Tegeder broke the news, his Facebook page has been flooded with prayers, photos of couples he has married and notes from the scores of people who have been helped and inspired by the maverick priest.

Usually an eloquent and talkative interview, this week Tegeder just sounded tired.

“I don’t feel too bad,” he said. “I’m going to Rochester [Mayo Clinic] next week to see if they can do anything. Doctors told me there’s probably not much they can do. You hate to hear something like that.”

At 67, Tegeder is a robust man who likes to ride his bike from his home in Richfield to his parish, Gichitwaa Kateri, a church that ministers to American Indians, just off Lake Street in south Minneapolis. So the cancer was a surprise.

“It hit me out of the blue,” he said.

“The funny thing is, I still feel fairly healthy,” Tegeder said. He said he may try some targeted therapies, “but this is not likely in my case. In some cases treatment is less beneficial than doing nothing.”

Ed Flahavan worked alongside Tegeder in the 1980s at another parish, St. Stephen’s. He was saddened to hear about Tegeder’s cancer.

“My experience working and living with Mike is that he is superbly pastoral and sensitive to people who come in the front door with whatever pain they had,” said Flahavan. “Mike is the kind of guy who, if you came and said you needed $25 to rent a truck because you had to move out of your apartment, he would help you move. He wouldn’t just give you the $25 and a nice speech.”

Tegeder has also been known to pick fights with institutional rigidity wherever he finds it, but particularly inside his own church.

“Mike is the guy who pulls the pin on the grenade and lobs it over the wall,” said Flahavan. “He’s got a singular heart.”

Tegeder was repeatedly threatened with dismissal by Nienstedt during the fight for marriage equality. During investigations into the church’s sex abuse scandal, a whistleblower claimed that Nienstedt even considered labeling Tegeder as “disabled” in order to silence him.

“I don’t need to prove anything,” Tegeder told me in 2012. “If [Nienstedt] wants to throw me out, I’m fine with it.”

Then Tegeder showed me his identification card — he had kept his bus driver’s license up to date in case he was ever dismissed from the priesthood.

While his crusade for marriage equality has put Tegeder in the news, it’s his dedication to people on the margins — drug addicts, the mentally ill — that has put him in people’s hearts.

Katharyn Dawson, Tegeder’s sister, lived with him for awhile and said 2 a.m. calls for help were not unusual. “He’s realistic,” she said. “Very compassionate yet very contemporary. It’s a unique combination of traits to help people.”

Dawson has seen evidence of her brother’s work in countless cards coming in to thank him, and more than 1,500 visits on his CaringBridge page.

The day after his diagnosis, Tegeder spoke to parishioners at the Ash Wednesday service. “We are not just dust, but we are stardust,” he said. We are on a blessed journey, headed in the same direction, some of us will get there sooner than others. In God’s time it is all the same.”


7/3/2016 UPDATE:
"Well Done, Good and Faithful Servant"

For the writings of Mike Tegeder at the PCV, see:
• "Trust Your Shepherds"
• What is the Lesson?
• Are You Serious?
• The Archdiocese and Fathers Conlin and Schüller
• Quote of the Day – November 8, 2012
• Quote of the Day – December 18, 2011
• "I Like McDonald's, Too; But Dioceses Are Not Franchises"
• Archdiocesan Pension Pitfalls

See also the previous PCV posts:
• One Courageous Parish Priest
• Pastor Mike Tegeder Challenges Archbishop Nienstedt's "Bullying Behavior"
• Local Catholic Priest Speaks Out on the MN Bishops' Anti-Gay DVD Controversy

"We've Become the New South"

By Joe Kruse

"We've become the New South." These words lodged in me like a thorn. The phrase comes back to me every time I see a statistic explicating the worst-in-the-nation racial disparities stitched into Minneapolis’s social and economic fabric. It comes back to me every time I think about Jamar Clark, who was killed this past Fall by Minneapolis police. Almost all the witnesses said he was handcuffed when he was shot.

In an article from last Spring, Anthony Newby, executive director of a local social change organization called Neighborhoods Organizing for Change, was quoted saying, "We've become the new South . . . We've become the new premiere example of how to systematically oppress people of color."

For years I understood Minnesota to be a bastion of liberal politics. I thought that our "progressive" ideologies saved us from bigotry and violent racism, things I often associated with the Deep South.

But recently I've come to understand more clearly the covert but brutal qualities of Minnesotan racism. Our racism is masked by colorblind language and "progressive" state and local policies that distribute wealth primarily within white communities. Our racism is propagated by fear of confrontation and awkward conversations around race. It thrives on the silence upheld by the myth of "Minnesota Nice." While the South had Jim Crow policies for decades that ensured the subjugation of people of color, Minneapolis has the over-policing of the Northside and other communities of color that result in systemic repression through mass incarceration. In our city black people and American Indians and nine times more likely to be arrested for low-level offenses then white people. (For more information, see the ACLU’s report about Minneapolis called Picking up the Pieces.)

In the face of these violent inequalities, I am honored that our community will be hosting the 2016 Midwest Catholic Worker Faith and Resistance Retreat in conjunction with Black Lives Matter (BLM) Minneapolis. Each year one Midwest Catholic Worker community hosts a gathering of Catholic Workers from all over the region who come to work on the hosting community's project or campaign.

This year the Minneapolis Catholic Worker is hosting the Faith and Resistance Retreat [April 8-12] and will be working with BLM Minneapolis to ensure that the work we will do at our retreat will benefit the organizing goals of BLM locally. We are so excited to offer up this tradition of our Movement to support the incredible work of BLM Minneapolis. [NOTE: For more information and to register for the 2016 Midwest Catholic Worker Faith and Resistance Retreat click here.]

It is very important that this retreat is led by organizers of color embedded in the BLM Minneapolis leadership. These brilliant organizers are overworked and underpaid. Part of our work is to pay them equitably for their time and expertise. To do that we need to raise $7,000, and we need your help! This money will both go to support the work that happens at our retreat, but will also go to support organizers who have been putting in countless unpaid hours leading historic direct action campaigns in our city. It is high time these folks get some compensation for their momentous social change work, and we are in the fortunate place to help make that happen. We also need funds to pay for food and housing for the Catholic Workers who are coming to Minneapolis for the retreat. Many of these people are committed to living lives of voluntary simplicity and without a place to stay, would not be able to afford a hotel or other accommodation.

So we ask, again, that you give what you are able. Whether its $10 or $100, all gifts make a huge different in the work that we will do. We find now that we are living in a revolutionary moment similar in scale and importance to what unfolded in the American South in the 1960s. Thanks to the work of BLM and other black liberation organizations, there has been a national awakening around the current state of American racism. Helping us put on this retreat, ensuring that these incredible organizers are compensated for their necessary work, will help maintain this social change movement.

We ask you join us in supporting the unfolding social transformation.

Thank you so much for your support.

Peace and Love,

Joe Kruse and the The Minneapolis Catholic Worker


NOTE: Please make checks out to the Rye House and put FARR or Retreat in the memo. Mail checks to 2204 10th Ave. S. Minneapolis, MN 55404.

Any questions? Call 302-729-3643.

Ex-Twin Cities Archbishop Nienstedt Takes Michigan Church Post

By Peter Cox

Note: This article was first published January 13, 2016 by Minnesota Public Radio News.

Archbishop John Nienstedt, who stepped down in June as head of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, has taken on a temporary pastoral role at a church in Battle Creek, Mich.

Nienstedt resigned the Twin Cities post after Ramsey County prosecutors charged the archdiocese with failing to protect children from a predatory priest.

The charge followed two years of revelations about the failure of the archdiocese to protect children from sexual abuse at the hands of clergy. Nienstedt, who served eight years as Twin Cities archbishop, admitted no mistakes in his resignation letter.

David Clohessy, director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, said Nienstedt should've been defrocked, not reassigned.

"This move sends precisely the wrong message to Catholic employees," he said. "The message it sends is, no matter how severe your wrongdoing is, you'll always have a job in the Catholic Church."

According to the bulletin at the St. Philip Catholic Church (.pdf), Nienstedt will fill in for the head priest, who is undergoing medical treatment, over the next six months.

Nienstedt will perform some weekend and weekday masses, visit the sick and celebrate mass for nursing home and assisted living facilities. He'll also fill in for other priests in the diocese when needed.

Nienstedt could not immediately be reached for comment. The Diocese of Kalamazoo said in a statement that Neinstedt was a priest in good standing and was welcome at the St. Philip Parish.


Related Off-site Links:
Ex-Archbishop John Nienstedt Goes to Michigan Parish – Jean Hopfensperger (Star Tribune, January 13, 2016).
Archbishop John Nienstedt and Bishop Robert Finn Have New Homes Outside Former Dioceses – Brian Roewe (National Catholic Reporter, January 14, 2016).

See also the previous PCV posts:
• CCCR Responds to the Resignation of Archbishop Nienstedt
• Perspective
• In the Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis, "Regime Change is Not Enough"

Twin Cities Catholics Get Rare Chance to Make Archbishop Recommendations to Vatican

By Jean Hopfensperger

Note: This article was first published October 5, 2015 by the Star Tribune.

An often-outspoken group of Twin Cities Catholics packed a conference hall Monday for a rare opportunity to tell church leaders what they think of the archdiocese and what they want in their next archbishop.

With the St. Paul and Minneapolis Archdiocese reeling from a sex abuse scandal, bankruptcy and a theological divide, acting Archbishop Bernard Hebda hosted the first of seven “listening sessions” at St. Catherine University in St. Paul. [NOTE: For a list of all seven listening sessions, click here.]

It’s an unusual strategy, as archbishop recommendations typically are made by church leaders selected by the Vatican Embassy in Washington, D.C.

It wasn’t a bashful group.

“There’s a lack of trust, both in management and finance,” said Paul Mandell of Inver Grove Heights, one of about 200 people attending. “There’s a frustration with not being heard. There’s morale problems among priests and laity who don’t feel empowered.”

Mary Beth Stein told the archbishop that the sex abuse scandal, clerical cover-up and financial woes were among burning issues the next archbishop must address.

“There’s a strong sense of polarization in this archdiocese,” said Stein, of Shoreview. “We need to find a way to bridge Catholics, from conservative to progressive.”

Hebda spent two hours with the group that gathered at tables where they discussed three questions: What are the strengths of the archdiocese? What are its challenges? What should the Vatican consider when appointing a new bishop?

The key recommendations from all seven sessions will be summarized and sent to the Vatican Embassy as it makes its recommendations to Pope Francis.

It’s an unusual move, Hebda acknowledged. Ordinary Catholics aren’t typically asked their opinions on such matters. The usual process is for the embassy to seek insight into an archbishop appointment by sending questionnaires to local archdiocese leaders, said Hebda.

Both will be done in the St. Paul, where former archbishop John Nienstedt resigned in June after the Ramsey County attorney’s office filed criminal charges against the church for failing to protect children.

Hebda said the listening sessions reflect the spirit of the pope, who encouraged bishops who met with him in Washington, D.C., last month “to engage in dialogue.”

“We’re going to be looking at common themes in these listening sessions,” he said, joking that people in this group were the “guinea pigs” testing out the method.

At each listening session, the crowd will be divided into small discussion groups that will offer their input to Hebda.

Archdiocese strengths were first on the docket Monday, and answers were varied: Passionate, educated laity. Strong Catholic schools. Strong social-justice focus. Diverse members who cross differences of race, theology and geography.

“And we’re patient,” joked one group member.

Emotions ran a little higher when folks laid out the archdiocese’s challenges: Church members burned out and pained by the sex abuse scandal. Distrust over financial integrity and church credibility. Lack of recognition of women. Young adults and disaffected Catholics bailing out. Doctrine trumping understanding.

“There’s been more promotion of [religious] rites than personal relationships,” said Denise Anderson of St. Paul.

When describing preferred traits for the next archbishop, “humility” was mentioned most often. He must be a good listener, knowledgeable about church finance, a “bridge-builder,’’ a “communicator,” transparent.

“I think what you said will resonate with Pope Francis,” Hebda told the group.

Hebda said he spoke with the pope briefly in Washington and asked him to pray for the archdiocese. “It’s clear that he understands the urgency of the situation here,” said Hebda.

On Tuesday, Hebda will hear from Catholic priests and sisters in St. Paul, and then lay folks at Pax Christi Church in Eden Prairie. The last session is November 4.

Not all Minnesotans are waiting for listening sessions to speak their minds. Hebda joked that the papal envoy in Washington tipped him off that he has already received “more than one or two letters’’ from Twin Cities Catholics.


Related Off-site Link:
Twin Cities Catholics Weigh In on New Archbishop – Madeleine Baran (MPR News, October 6, 2015).

See also the previous PCV posts:
• Good News! – Archbishop Hebda to Hold Listening Sessions on Leadership Needs
• CCCR Representatives Meet with Archbishop Hebda
• Our Next Archbishop: What Would You Ask a Candidate If You Knew Your Voice Would Be Heard?
• We Need a New Way of Choosing Bishops
• Tom Flannery in Minneapolis
• "Our Voices Are Growing"
• Creating a Liberating Church
• Let Our Voices Be Heard
• Papal Appointment of Bishops is Not Traditional

Good News! – Archbishop Hebda to Hold Listening Sessions on Leadership Needs

Interim-Archbishop Bernard Hebda and his staff have announced a Fall listening session series aimed at gathering lay feedback in helping shape the archdiocese's future.

Reporting on this development for The Catholic Spirit, Maria Wiering writes:

Archbishop Bernard Hebda is asking for Catholics' input on the strengths and challenges of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, and the qualities hoped for in its next archbishop, through a series of listening sessions to be held in October and November.

The sessions are "taking a page from Pope Francis' playbook," he said.

"It's an opportunity for our local Church to be able to offer some input to Pope Francis and those with whom he'll be collaborating in making a decision about the next archbishop," he said. "I think it's important that we see how consultative Pope Francis has been from the beginning of his pontificate. Consider, for example, his use of a committee of cardinals to advise him and the emphasis that he has placed on the Synod process. We're hoping that we might be able to assist him - in all humility - along those lines by giving him some information from those who know the archdiocese best."

Archbishop Hebda, the archdiocese's apostolic administrator since the resignation of Archbishop John Nienstedt in June, acknowledged that the effort to obtain widespread feedback ahead of a new archbishop may be somewhat unusual, but suggested it could be something other dioceses adopt if it proves helpful.

The sessions will be hosted at parishes and Catholic institutions in several areas of the archdiocese in hopes that every Catholic who wishes to participate can. The locations were chosen for geographic diversity, their ability to accommodate large groups and as "parishes where different kinds of people would feel comfortable," Archbishop Hebda said.

"Some of the sessions will be in non-parish settings, so even those who feel some distance from the Church might feel comfortable in sharing their views with us," he said.

Feedback gathered during these sessions will be shared with those responsible for advising Pope Francis as he makes this important choice and with the new Archbishop whenever he is named. Summaries will be published in The Catholic Spirit.

For many of us, this is the opportunity we've long been waiting and working for: the chance to step up and let our voices be heard about the type of leadership we want to see in our local church!

Please do all you can to attend one of the listening sessions and encourage family and friends to do likewise.

Following is the schedule of listening sessions.


Schedule of Listening Sessions

Monday, October 5
1:00–3:00 p.m., Rauenhorst Ballroom, Coeur de Catherine, St. Catherine University, St. Paul
7:00–9 p.m., St. Stephen, Anoka

Tuesday, October 6:
1:00–3:00 p.m., Carondelet Center, St. Paul (NOTE: For women and men in consecrated life)
7:00–9:00 p.m., Pax Christi, Eden Prairie

Monday, November 2
7:00–9:00 p.m., Saint Peter, Forest Lake

Tuesday, November 3
7:00–9:00 p.m., Divine Mercy, Faribault

Wednesday, November 4
7:00–9:00 p.m., Woulfe Alumni Hall, Anderson Student Center, University of St. Thomas, St. Paul

Additional listening sessions are being scheduled for Latino Ministry parishes (in Spanish) and priests.


See also the previous PCV posts:
• CCCR Representatives Meet with Archbishop Hebda
• Our Next Archbishop: What Would You Ask a Candidate If You Knew Your Voice Would Be Heard?
• We Need a New Way of Choosing Bishops
• Local Catholics Select Three Priests for Bishop/Archbishop
• CCCR Responds to the Resignation of Archbishop Nienstedt
• Tom Flannery in Minneapolis
• "Our Voices Are Growing"
• Creating a Liberating Church
• Let Our Voices Be Heard
• Papal Appointment of Bishops is Not Traditional

CCCR Representatives Meet with Archbishop Hebda

Above: St. Paul-Minneapolis Interim Archbishop Bernard Hebda (center) with CCCR board members (from left) Art Stoeberl, Michael Bayly and Paula Ruddy – September 3, 2015.


On Thursday afternoon, September 3, three board members of the Twin Cities-based Catholic Coalition for Church Reform (CCCR), Art Stoeberl, Michael Bayly and Paula Ruddy, met with Interim-Archbishop Bernard Hebda. By all accounts, it was a very cordial and productive meeting.

Following is part of Elizabeth A. Elliott's National Catholic Reporter coverage of CCCR's meeting with Archbishop Hebda.

As the St. Paul-Minneapolis archdiocese prepares for a new leader, the Vatican-appointed interim administrator has met with a Catholic reform group that the former archbishop had warned his flock against joining.

Archbishop Bernard Hebda, appointed apostolic administrator following the resignation of Archbishop John C. Nienstedt and Auxiliary Bishop Lee A. Piché in June, met September 3 with members of the Catholic Coalition for Church Reform (CCCR) of Minnesota.

"I was pleased to meet with three members of the CCCR and was delighted to learn that they share my interest in engaging in a wide consultation of the faithful in assessing the needs of the archdiocese," Hebda said in a statement to NCR. "I was also happy to share with them some of the preliminary plans for that consultation, and appreciated their input and offer of collaboration."

Hebda met with Paula Ruddy, a member of the CCCR board, Michael Bayly and Art Stoeberl.

Ruddy told NCR, "We are interested in having a lay voice, a broad and open consultation for who the next archbishop will be. We are asking that [Hebda] would expand the process of choosing the archbishop to include all people in the archdiocese at an open meeting."

The coalition co-chair, Bob Beutel, wasn't at the meeting with Hebda, but he said he was pleased to hear that the archbishop was cordial and had heard of their organization. "It was nice to get that recognition."

Beutel said the organization was waiting to hear about the listening schedule the diocese has in the works which will be eight sessions at four different locations. [NOTE: Click here for an update on the times and venues of these sessions.] He said the organization would "like to see people make known what kind of person the new bishop should be, the kind of vetting that should be done and suggestions of people who might be a good bishop might be."

To read Elizabeth A. Elliott's NCR article in its entirety, click here.

Our Next Archbishop: What Would You Ask a Candidate If You Knew Your Voice Would Be Heard?

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The following is from the leadership of the Twin Cities-based Catholic Coalition for Church Reform (CCCR).


We are currently seeking an opportunity to express our needs and desires to those who are appointing our next Archbishop, with the hope that they care what we – and, indeed, all Catholics in the local church – need and desire.

Can you imagine an organization that depends for its bread and butter on people’s voluntary contributions not caring what those people think?

Can you imagine an organization that preaches loudly that Jesus is its Lord ignoring the people it is its mission to serve?

Let’s hope that the Papal Nuncio who is the organization’s man in the U.S. and Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda, the temporary administrator, will accept CCCR’s offer to set up an open and broad consultation process before the appointment of the new Archbishop.

In the meantime . . .

If you had a seat on the selection committee in Rome, making a recommendation to the Pope for appointment, what would you look for in a candidate for St. Paul and Minneapolis?

Please let us know by sending as e-mail to PCV editor Michael Bayly at mbayly1965@yahoo.com.

Michael is continually adding to this post the feedback he receives on what local Catholics are looking for in their next archbishop.

Listed below (in most recent to earliest order) are the comments received to date.

I would like to see a rare presence - one who doesn't have the spirit of timidity in speaking about the deep misogyny in the Church, and exposing it as not of Christ.

– Elizabeth Rainsford-McMahon

Many critical attributes have already been offered and I agree with all of them. Most importantly, I think, is someone who has a welcoming attitude to all Catholics as well as the greater community. Someone who recognizes that many of the faithful have been hurt, disenfranchised, condemned, and turned away from the Church they love. Someone who embraces all, recognizes the beauty and value of diversity, and listens carefully and respectfully. And someone who has the intellect and courage to lead us (at both the local level as well as within the world Church) to a Church more fully embracing of gospel values for all God’s people.

– Kathy Andrus

I would like to see the next bishop (whether male or female) be one who acts first to help the victim of abuse rather than trying to protect the person causing harm; I would like to see the next bishop work as a pastor - spending a month (from time to time) serving as a parish priest in different places in the archdiocese.

I would like to see the next bishop:

• address changes in the formation of candidates for the priesthood by revising the curriculum; hiring lay
couples to teach courses; to require extensive hands on internships in social justice agencies

• establish ministries by and for LGBT people, homeless people, and non-Catholic/former Catholic people

• open discussion on the elimination of celibacy rules

• rent a "double wide" trailer for a residence and donate the bishop's throne at the Cathedral to the Pentecostal church in Brooklyn Center ( the current priests residence would make a great emergency shelter and short term rooms for homeless teenagers.

– Art Stoeberl

At the risk of replicating some of the qualities that others have suggested, I offer my thoughts on the ideal person for the position. He (I suppose it has to be a male) should be someone whom the majority of people respect because of his proven record of trying to create a community of the faithful. To this end, he needs to actively listen and respond with compassion to what he hears. He needs to identify with the real concerns of the people and to interpret the teachings of the church in light of the 21st society in which we live. To this end, he will need to understand that the findings of scientists and psychologists mean we must change our understanding of the environment and human behavior. Finally, he will need courage to take a position that may sometimes be opposed to those of higher standing in the church.

– Patricia Mulrooney Eldred

After reading the comments and suggestions already offered concerning the next Archbishop and the qualities people would like to see, I concur with what has been said. The quality I want to raise up is looking to the possibility of the next archbishop being from here. I think part of the difficulties encountered by the two previous archbishops – Flynn and Nienstedt – were that they were outsiders. I don’t know if they ever caught up with this culture. There was an article in the NCR a few weeks ago that spoke about the Old Boys’ Network that was/is involved in how men become archbishops. Nienstedt was used an example in how he ended up here.

With this in mind, I strongly urge the powers-that-be to name a local person to be the next Archbishop – either a bishop elsewhere whose roots are here or someone is not yet a bishop. I believe we need someone whose roots are here and knows our culture.

– Mark Scannell

For too long, our archdiocese has suffered from a "small tent" mentality. An atmosphere of exclusion has alienated large numbers of Catholic who experience their faith in ways different from the archbishop. This has created polarization and caused a fragmented and divided local Church.

Our new archbishop must be someone who welcomes all Catholics. He must create forums whereby he can dialog with and listen to Catholics with diverse lived experiences. He must be a bridge builder who leads our local Church into an atmosphere of diverse conversations, loving inclusion, and Christ-like welcome. Our next archbishop must create a tent large enough for all!

– Mary Beth Stein

Give us one who is transparent, accountable, and responsive to the needs of the people, acting with Love and Compassion as Jesus lived and taught; doctrine and dogma be d----d.

– John Chuchman

It would be great if the new Archbishop knew how the laity has longed for dialog with him and longed for his visibility to all of us; how we have been saddened and alienated by our leader traveling constantly away from his people; and how we are discouraged by the Catholic flock diminishing before our eyes. And he needs to know that there is a great need for healing - and it has not begun for many of us.

– Bonnie Strand

Yes to what has been previously presented, and . . . a bishop who fulfills Pope Francis's "missionary option" as expressed in #27 of The Joy of the Gospel. "...a missionary impulse capable of transforming everything, so that the churches customs, ways of doing things, times and schedules, language and structures can be suitably channeled for the evangelization of today's world rather than for her self preservation.... To make ordinary pastoral activity on every level more inclusive and open, to inspire in pastoral workers a constant desire to go forth and in this way to elicit a positive response from all those whom Jesus summons to friendship with him."

– Don Conroy

I would look for a man with the Christian vision "Here comes everybody!" All are welcome. We are on the move to co-create the Kingdom of God, so let's roll up our sleeves and get to work.

– Paula Ruddy

I'd like to see as our next archbishop an educated person who is generally perceived to be mature, stable and pastoral in style. Someone familiar with the spectrum of theological thought, but who relates well to young people and disenfranchised people, and has an understanding of the economic, social, psychological, and technological challenges they face today. Someone who might aspire to soothing the hearts and souls of people living in a wounded culture. Someone who might represent Church as a beacon of hope in an increasingly hopeless world. Leadership, kindness, empathy, intelligence, and humility might be good starting points. A very big order.

– Mary Lynn Murphy

The next archbishop should have compassion, and mercy. He should be familiar to this area, the culture and history. It is important that the new leader listen to the many voices that love their church. The archbishop must be skilled in healing and at the same time progressive in stimulating new growth.

– Nancy Gotto

I think we’d all be looking for someone from our region that knows the people and their outlook.

I would want someone willing to talk to their own staff, interact with both ordained and lay people, and have open forums throughout the diocese from time to time so they would always have their finger on the pulse of the community.

Someone willing to be open about structure, budget items, costs, income, and expenditures of the diocese.

Someone aware that the ordained are not above the people, but were ordained to serve the people.

Someone willing to make the changes and adjustments necessary to see that abuse is never again ignored

Someone willing to agree with the pope that we are not called to judge people, that God can handle that all alone.

– Frank Meuers

What we desperately need in a new bishop is someone who can relate to our young people. It has been brought to my attention that very few weddings are taking place in church, that young people see Confirmation as a graduation from having to learn anything more about their faith, and that anyone who attended Easter Vigils were made painfully aware of how few people joined the church

I think it is absolutely necessary to convene a panel of young people, teenagers as well as 20-30 year-olds to seriously listen to them and heed their concerns. If we do not do something soon, I don't see much hope for the future of the church. What is desperately needed is visionary leadership - the time is ripe, let's take advantage of it.

– Mary Beckfeld

Share your thoughts by e-mailing a comment to
mbayly1965@yahoo.com

We Need a New Way of Choosing Bishops

By Robert Mickens

Note: This commentary was first published June 22, 2015 by the National Catholic Reporter.

Certain Catholics love to repeat ad nauseam that the church is not a democracy, especially when it comes to decision-making and the selection of leadership.

And thank God it is not.

Nor should it aspire to be if the democratic model is the dysfunctional political and electoral system at work in places like the United States.

But that doesn't mean all is well with the way the Roman church makes its pastoral-administrative decisions, discerns the call of the Spirit, or chooses its bishops.

Quite the contrary.

The inadequate leadership displayed by too many bishops in the United States and other parts of the world the past couple of decades has made that point painfully clear. One wonders how some of these men were ever put in a position of such weighty responsibility.

The most recent case that has American Catholics scratching their heads is that of Archbishop John Nienstedt.

The 68-year-old Detroit native resigned June 15 after seven disastrous years as the head of the St. Paul-Minneapolis Archdiocese. (He had an extra year there as the coadjutor archbishop.)

Some may think it uncharitable, but, no, it is not unfair to call his time in the Twin Cities a true disaster. And one that ended even worse.

Just about anyone in New Ulm could have predicted this. That's the smaller Minnesota diocese where the Vatican sent Nienstedt in 2001 to prepare him for promotion to the state's major see. His task was to "clean up the mess" (a favorite expression of conservative American monsignors in the Roman Curia) that Bishop Raymond Lucker left behind.

Lucker was a St. Paul native and was auxiliary bishop in the Twin Cities when he was appointed to New Ulm in 1975. Lucker was named when Belgian Archbishop Jean Jadot was apostolic delegate to Washington, and he came to be seen as one of the leading Second Vatican Council progressives in the U.S. hierarchy.

But within a few years after the election of John Paul II in 1978, he and other so-called "Jadot bishops" were being replaced by a more conservative crop of priests.

During Jadot's tenure (1973-1980), the tendency was to appoint "homegrown" bishops; that is, men who were natives of the diocese or area they were sent to be ordinary.

But when Archbishop Pio Laghi followed him as papal delegate (and then nuncio), that trend was gradually reversed. With all but rare exceptions, new bishops were appointed to dioceses that many of them had never even visited before and in states in other parts of the country.

It was a deliberate and, some say, cynical policy decision made by the cabal of cardinal-members and other officials of the Congregation for Bishops to keep the new "shepherds" more loyal to their masters in Rome than the unknown people they were sent to rule as if on a foreign mission.

Only a tiny minority of the priests and an even more miniscule section of the people in these dioceses were ever consulted about the candidates to be their new bishops. That trend has continued right up to the present. Who in New Ulm had ever heard of John Nienstedt? He was from Detroit, in a totally different ecclesiastical region, where he had been auxiliary bishop since 1996.

"Imported" to New Ulm and then to the Twin Cities, he was typical of most of the bishops in the United States.

In fact, only four of the 32 Latin Rite metropolitan archbishops in the country are "homegrown." The situation is similar in other parts of the world. Pope Francis was one of those who actually led his home diocese when he was archbishop of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

In any case, this is only one and perhaps the least bad feature of a very problematic episcopal appointment system.

While the apostolic nuncio is supposed to make discreet inquiries among a representation of the diocesan clergy and respected laypeople when he draws up the terna (or list of three names) of candidates that he submits to Rome, the process is extremely subjective and arbitrary.

There is an old boys' network of current bishops that tends to act as a self-preservation dynasty by promoting their protégés and friends to the episcopacy. Cardinals, especially those who are members of the Congregation for Bishops, are fundamental in pushing forward a candidate, especially for promotion to major posts.

Cardinal Edmund Szoka, for example, was largely responsible for making Nienstedt (his former secretary) a bishop. The late cardinal was known to have catapulted a number of other Michigan priests into the episcopacy, as well, including the current archbishops in Detroit and Hartford.

When Nienstedt resigned last week, the Vatican appointed Archbishop Bernard Hebda as temporary administrator of St. Paul and Minnesota. The mechanisms surrounding this appointment make it problematic, too. Hebda, a church centrist with degrees in both civil and canon law, not even two years ago was named coadjutor to the embattled Archbishop John Myers of Newark, N.J. With some sort of acrobatics, he evidently intends to make frequent three-hour flights each way and do both jobs.

Perhaps Hebda, who was bishop of Gaylord, Mich., from 2009-2013, has become the Vatican's new troubleshooter to sort out problematic situations. But is he the only and wisest choice?

It certainly follows the same familiar pattern of the old boys' network.

Hebda, 55, is a priest from Pittsburgh, where he was personal secretary to then-Bishop Donald Wuerl (Rome classmate of Myers, who is originally from Illinois). Well aware that loaning a priest to the Vatican is an investment for a future dividend, Wuerl sent Hebda to Rome, where he worked for more than a dozen years at the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts. Incidentally, Myers was a member of that council.

And Wuerl is now Cardinal Wuerl, the latest (transplanted) archbishop of Washington and a member of the Congregation for Bishops.

How many priests and other baptized faithful had a voice in any of these appointments? Where are the concerns of any of them listened to seriously? The "election" of bishops (that's what the Holy See calls such appointments, underlining the more ancient practice) need not be done by widespread popular vote. In fact, that would be disaster.

But there should be a more serious and involved process that involves a significant representation of the entire community in identifying the most qualified and gifted leaders. And it should be the rule, not the exception, that the choice (or recommendation) of candidate generally be from the local clergy, especially in long-established dioceses.

Such an "election process" needs to be re-established, albeit with provisions for changed modern-day situations. While it is true that the church is not democracy, neither is it an oligarchy.

Robert Mickens is editor-in-chief of Global Pulse. Since 1986, he has lived in Rome, where he studied theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University before working 11 years at Vatican Radio and then another decade as correspondent for The Tablet of London.


See also the previous PCV posts:
• Local Catholics Select Three Priests for Bishop/Archbishop
• CCCR Responds to the Resignation of Archbishop Nienstedt
• Tom Flannery in Minneapolis
• "Our Voices Are Growing"
• Creating a Liberating Church
• Let Our Voices Be Heard
• Papal Appointment of Bishops is Not Traditional