GETTING TO KNOW CARDINAL-DESIGNATE SEAN O'MALLEY
The Boston Globe today, 3/19/06, ran a lengthy interview done Wednesday by its religious reporter Michael Paulson with the Archbishop of Boston, Sean O'Malley, who will become a cardinal on Friday at Benedict XVI's first consistory. He was nmaed Archbishop of Boston in July 2003, replacing Cardinal Bernard Law who was forced to resign over the sexual-abuse scandals involving priests in the Archdiocese.
The full transcript of the interview is on
www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2006/03/19/omalley_transcript/?p...
Here are some of the most interesting parts:
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SOME PERSONAL QUESTIONS
Q:
… Tell me, first of all, what kind of changes you anticipate for yourself personally and for the archdiocese as a result of your becoming a cardinal.
A: Well, it's new, so it's hard for me to forecast. I suppose that the Holy Father will appoint me to some commissions that will necessitate attending meetings occasionally. The Holy Father has talked about using the College of Cardinals as a sort of senate, and he has scheduled a meeting with us next week where we'll spend the whole day just bringing up issues with him. I'm not sure whether that's going to be something that he does on a periodic basis or whether he's just taking advantage of the presence of the cardinals in Rome. I mean, his pontificate is a little too new to know exactly how he will use the cardinals. I'm hoping that the Holy See will recognize the fact that Boston is a large archdiocese with many challenges and will not give me so many assignments that it will distract from my principal mission, which is to be the archbishop of Boston.
Q:
Do you have any input into which particular congregations you get assigned to?
A: I don't know. Maybe after next week, I may be able to answer some of these questions better. Obviously, I know Latin America very well. The Holy See has sent me there on many missions over the last few years. The last time, they sent me to Cuba to visit the seminaries. There is a commission on Latin America, maybe I'd be put on that, but it's hard to forecast. Actually, the Holy Father is restructuring a lot of the curia, and may be putting some of these commissions together and reducing the number of offices. So they might wait until that is done before they begin to assign committees to the cardinals.
Q:
And how do you expect it will change the way you interact with other church officials or just laypeople and priests here in Boston?
A: In Boston, I don't think it will have a great impact. Ever since I came here, people have been saying 'Your Eminence,' they're so used to having a cardinal-archbishop. But, certainly, being a cardinal does involve you in the more international life of the church. And so, I will probably have more contact with bishops and cardinals from other parts of the world, and they will probably visit Boston now because there's a cardinal here. But as I say, at this point, it's all so new to me, and it's difficult for me to assess exactly what those changes will be. Within our own bishops' conference, the structure doesn't allow for the cardinals to have any special role, but the American cardinals do get together before meetings on occasions.
Q:
You mentioned the title, 'Your Eminence,' and I know you're a Capuchin friar. You've placed this big emphasis on humility and working with the poor, and at the same time, you'll now have these very elaborate vestments and this lofty title and certain privileges. And I wonder how you reconcile being on the one hand a prince of the church, and on the other hand a Franciscan.
A: Well, it's an anomaly that you accept because you want to be available for the mission of the church.
We have the vow of obedience, and I took as my motto 'Do Whatever He Tells You -- Quodcumque Dixerit Facite,' which are the last words of the blessed mother in the Bible. But I don't like the hoopla and will try to avoid as much of it as I can without --I don't want to not recognize the dignity of this honor and the office and what it means for Catholics, and so, when in proper times I have to wear certain liturgical vestments, I will certainly do that. I've always tried to observe what the church expects of us, but my preference is to try and maintain a simple lifestyle. Obviously, I am no longer living in a Capuchin monastery, but I try to live the spirit of our rule and constitutions the best that I can. The church does expect religious bishops to do that. We still don't have any personal property as religious bishops. And...it is an anomaly. We have many bishops in the order, but most of them are in the missions. I have a classmate in Papua New Guinea and another who is bishop in Bluefields, Nicaragua. And, well, I started off in the West Indies, so that's sort of the usual. If they're going to make us a bishop, it's usually in mission countries.
ON DISSENT WITHIN THE CHURCH
Q:
With so much disagreement within the church today, and I suppose within the society at large, what is the proper place, in your view, for disagreement within Catholicism?
A: Well, I'm often disappointed by the intensity or the, how shall I say, the rhetoric. I certainly think that there needs to be dialogue and we need to listen to each other. But sometimes people have extremes, as the French say, 'Les extrêmes se touchent.' They use the same type of Saul Alinksy methodology, which in the church I don't think is appropriate.
I think that very often people disagree with the church (and ) they're very quick to misrepresent what the church is doing or saying, and are very quick to impute the very worst motives to people. I certainly wish that there was a little more charity in the discourse of people who disagree. I try not to treat people that way.
Q:
Is there a place in the church for those who place their faith in Jesus but disagree with teachings about sexuality or even abortion?
A:
Well, certainly we don't want to drive people out of the church, but we do want to bring people closer to the truth that is proclaimed in the church, particularly around these issues, which are very important. The church cannot allow itself to be assimilated into the secular culture around us, and sometimes I think that some of our Catholics have been so influenced by their culture, and then are upset when the church doesn't follow the same path of assimilation, rather than one of giving prophetic witness to a different message, that is the message of the Gospel. I understand the forces that are out there shaping people. And, of course, for the longest time, the church taught from a basis of authority with people, and, with great simplicity and faith, accepted. And in today's world, we need to use more persuasion and apologetics, as we used to call it when I was in seminary, and explanation. But
faith cannot always be reduced to some syllogism. And we do believe that there are givens, as revelation that has come to us, and that it's our responsibility to embrace that and to teach it. And hopefully to witness to it, and, if we lead good lives, that helps to make our message more cogent, even to those who disagree.
Q:
I guess this gets to this question that has somewhat surrounded this papacy so far, which is whether the church would be better off as a smaller, purer institution or whether it's some kind of big tent.
A: (
Laughter). Well, there's over a billion of us in the tent. It's pretty big. I used to hear that Pope John Paul (II) was more big tent and Cardinal (Joseph) Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI) was more the faithful remnant, but I don't see that in his writings and the teaching. The church's mission is to try and proclaim the Gospel to the whole world. And certainly there are many who will point to Constantine and say, well, before the church became so official, when they were in the catacombs, then that was the real Christianity. And then they became state religions, official religions, and became very worldly. And there's a certain amount of truth to the danger of the church becoming too involved in worldly things, and losing sight of our basic mission. But I like to think that,
if we are faithful to teaching our mission, and try and teach it in a persuasive and a cogent way and challenge people to live a life of holiness, that it will make our message more credible. And one of the greatest tragedies of the sexual abuse crisis is that it undermines our capacity to teach the hard points of the Gospel.
DEALING WITH THE SEXUAL ABUSE CRISIS
Q:
When you arrived here, obviously the abuse crisis overshadowed everything about this archdiocese. How do you think the archdiocese is doing at moving forward on that front, and particularly, how do you think you're doing dealing first with victims, and then with accused priests?
A: Well, it certainly has been the largest issue, I think, in the life of the history of the church in Boston. And certainly, when I arrived, I tried to look for creative ways to come to a settlement with all of the survivors, the victims. And the sale of the bishop's house and his property was the vehicle by which we were able to do that. And the archdiocese is committed to try to do what we can to make our archdiocese as safe as possible. I've committed to continue the annual audits voluntarily, even though it's not being imposed by the bishops' conference, in order to be able to identify areas that we do want to improve in. We're also just finishing a two-year review that our oversight committee has done for us, and they've helped us to identify areas where we need to give attention to. And once again, the help of so many dedicated laypeople who have come to the church in our time of need, and freely given of their talent and their expertise, has been very, very helpful. I dare say that
I don't think there's any other institution in the Commonwealth that has done as much to re-guarantee the safety of children as the Catholic Church has done. And we still have a long way to go, but certainly the thousands and thousands of CORI checks and sex abuse training of our volunteers, and the training of the children has been a monumental task, carrying this out at the same time that our resources have been so limited. We are committed to the ongoing psychological counselling and the ongoing training and screening that is essential for the safety of children.
Q:
And in terms of the relationship with victims and the processing of complaints against priests, how do you assess where you are on those two fronts?
A: Well, I think the Office of Outreach is doing a wonderful job. I was meeting with victims again today. That's been ongoing, but their work has been exceptional. And right now we're looking for ways to be able to respond to some of the spiritual and religious needs of the survivors and their families. And we've gotten some help from Boston College, is actually giving us a psychology professor for a year on sabbatical to work with the office and to develop more programs along those lines. And I think that's a very positive development. But I think the ongoing reviews have uncovered a number of areas that we need to work on and that we will address.
Certainly, our ability to deal with the accusations in a timely fashion has been very difficult. I think that's improved. We still have a way to go, but a lot of resources, both human and material, have been brought to bear on this whole area, and it certainly has been a priority and will continue to be, because we see the need for healing is going to be around. And so the diocese needs to continue to work in this area.
ON ADOPTION BY HOMOSEXUAL COUPLES
Q:
Currently, there's this controversy over the Catholic Charities decision to get out of the adoption business. I wonder, do you personally agree with the Vatican's position that adoption by same sex couples is doing violence to children?A: Well, it's a very tragic moment for us to have to step away from adoptions, since that has been such a characteristic Catholic Charities type of activity, and one that has been in many ways the centerpiece of our Catholic Charities programs throughout the United States. But
I understand the Holy See's concern that in our works of mercy, in our social programs, that we must be consistent in teaching the Catholic faith in one voice. And certainly the church's teaching on marriage is very central to our beliefs and how we see that the institution of marriage in today's world is very much threatened on many fronts, and yet it is the very cornerstone of society. And the best way for a child to be raised is to be conceived and nurtured and raised by committed, loving parents in a marriage. And so, for the church, in our social service activities and other works of mercy, we need to be consistent. And it was your newspaper that pointed out the anomaly to us, and we have tried to deal with that.
On the other hand, it's always difficult when people look at Catholic teaching on the periphery, and don't see that the core of our teaching is the love of God above all else, and the love of our neighbor as ourselves. And I was very pleased that the Holy Father's first encyclical is 'Deus caritas est,' that God is love. And I know that many people would cast our actions as mean-spirited or to denigrate people. But
it is our desire to be faithful to that love that is the very core and reason for our church and our religion, that we must love God, obey his commandments, and try and create a civilization of love. And in our highly secularized, individualistic world, I know that that message doesn't come across too clearly. But we will try to do our best to communicate it in the most clear way that we can.
Q: Why not make a kind of prudential judgment that the good done by placing a large number of children with traditional families outweighs the harm done by placing a small number with nontraditional families?
A: Well,
particularly at a time when the marriage is threatened, it's very important that the church's teaching on the institution of marriage be reflected in our works of mercy and our social services.
Q:
I'm curious whether, if you did disagree with the Vatican's position on this, is there any way for you to express that, either to Rome or to the public? Or is it simply not possible for a bishop to disagree on matters like this with teachings from Rome?
A: Well,
I think this is a very clear teaching. And it's not one that would admit of dissent in the church.
ON THE ISSUE OF IMMIGRANTS
Q:
You alluded earlier to Cardinal Mahony's comments on Ash Wednesday about immigration. He talked about rising anti-immigration sentiment and said he would urge priests to civil disobedience if Congress passed a law asking churches to get documentation from immigrants. What do you make of that, and would you take a similar stance?
A: The outrageous legislation that's in the House right now is something that we could never follow. I mean, my hope is that the Senate will be able to... Certainly everybody's concerned about security, and our borders are very porous, but the human problem of 11 million people living in our community, working in our community, is a very real one they can not - that needs to be dealt with. So, besides worrying about security at the borders, which is very important, a guest worker program is in order, but also some sort of a legalization program for the people who are already incorporated in this community and are not going to be deported.
We cannot deport 11 million people, and it is outrageous to expect that the church or private organizations are going to act as some sort of vigilantes to identify undocumented workers. I mean, it's just not going to happen.
Q:
When you say it's not going to happen, you mean you will not let it happen here in Boston?
A: No. I certainly - I think that would be outrageous.
ABOUT HIS PREDECESSOR
Q:
Does Cardinal Law advise you on personnel appointments or other administrative matters in the archdiocese?
A: Cardinal Law is no longer the archbishop of Boston, just as I am no longer the bishop of Fall River, Palm Beach or the Virgin Islands. When a bishop leaves a diocese, he leaves. I have gone back to have a Mass, something like that, at the invitation of that bishop. But
when you leave a diocese, you leave. And Cardinal Law has left Boston. And he has left. And that is the practice of a bishop.
Q.
Did Cardinal Law ever advise you?
A. Never.
Q:
I understand that as part of the consistory, you'll be expected to exchange a kiss of peace with Cardinal Law. How would you have people understand that moment, given that he remains a fairly controversial figure here in town?
A: Well, I'm not that acquainted with the ceremony myself. I don't know whether it's like a Mass where you greet the people that are next to you, or whether every cardinal greets every other cardinal. And certainly I understand that there are people who are angry and upset because of things that transpired in the archdiocese that resulted in Cardinal Law's tendering his resignation. I would hope that people are not focused on that during this ceremony. Cardinal Law is no longer the archbishop of Boston. I am. And at Mass, we give the peace to everybody around us, and at the ceremony we will follow whatever the ritual is, as a sign of peace.