New Bishop Conforms To Strict Catholic Law

[cmotherofpirl]

New bishop conforms to strict Catholic law
By Steven G. Vegh
The Virginian-Pilot
10 July 2004

Six weeks after taking office, Bishop Francis X. DiLorenzo is reshaping the
Diocese of Richmond to bring it into close conformity with the policies of Pope
John Paul II and orthodox Catholic teaching.

That intention is most obvious with DiLorenzo’s announcement last month that no
one can be invited by parishes as a guest speaker without first being approved
by the diocesan theologian, a post re-established by the bishop.

The bishop has also decided not to reactivate the diocesan “sexual minorities”
commission that had advised former Bishop Walter F. Sullivan on gay and lesbian
concerns.

Additionally, DiLorenzo removed a Virginia Beach woman from the diocesan women’s
commission because her support for ordaining women as priests conflicted with
the Vatican’s policy of restricting the priesthood to men.

DiLorenzo was appointed by the pope to succeed Sullivan, who ended a 29-year
tenure as bishop last year after reaching the mandatory retirement age of 75.
The new bishop took over the Richmond diocese, which includes 64,000 members in
South Hampton Roads, on May 24.

Sullivan’s strong support for women and his prominent anti-war stance earned him
a reputation as a liberal. DiLorenzo, 62, who came to Richmond after 10 years as
the bishop of Honolulu, is considered more conservative.

The new bishop’s choice as diocesan theologian was the Rev. Russell E. Smith,
who already is the priest of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton parish in New Kent County
and a judge on the diocese’s marriage tribunal that oversees annulments. The
theology post had been vacant since 1998.

Smith said Friday that he will brief DiLorenzo on theological issues coming up
at the biannual meetings of the country’s Catholic bishops.

But DiLorenzo has also assigned Smith responsibility for ensuring that no one
who deviates from Catholic doctrine is invited by a church group or parish to
lead a retreat, hold a workshop or give a guest lecture “on Catholic property.”

The new requirement applies in particular to “those who come from outside the
Diocese or those inside the Diocese who are not certified to engage in religious
instruction” by the Richmond diocese, DiLorenzo stated in a letter printed in
The Catholic Virginian, the diocesan newspaper.

"This will avoid the never pleasant situation of 'dis-inviting’ someone and all
the fallout that entails," the bishop added.

Parishes will have to tell Smith whom their prospective guest is, and Smith will
decide, with the occasional help of a newly formed doctrine commission, whether
the speaker is acceptable based on what he or she has said or written.

Every case will be decided according to the same standard: "orthodoxy," Smith
said.

"Orthodoxy is right teaching. Anything contrary to Catholic teaching will not
fly. Don’t expect anything about women’s ordination in this diocese," he said.

Smith said the precise definitions of orthodoxy can be found in the Catholic
catechism and books detailing church, or "canon", law. His office will also send
general guidelines to parishes.

Smith’s duties also include investigating any complaint that church rules on how
to conduct worship services are being violated. A parish would be in violation,
for example, if it let a lay person give the homily, a privilege restricted to
ordained clergy.

"I am to determine whether or not there is a problem, and I propose the easy
solution to the problem, which is to fix it voluntarily," he said. Any person or
group refusing to comply will be dealt with by diocesan administrators as a
personnel matter, Smith said.

He acknowledged that some parishioners may resent his new roles.

"If I have to go into a place as a censor and say, 'This speaker won’t fly,'
oftentimes that’s not always met with, 'Oh, thank you'", he said.

But within the bounds of orthodoxy, he said, DiLorenzo "is very broad-minded
when it comes to the church. No community or activity will be marginalized as
long as it’s authentically Catholic."

DiLorenzo himself has been reviewing the membership of the 24 diocesan
commissions that represent special interests such as youth, social justice,
black Catholics, and people with AIDS.

Sullivan created many of the commissions to help advise him, and he met
periodically with panel members. Under church regulations, the groups were
automatically deactivated when he retired last September.

The choice of whether or not to revive a commission rests with DiLorenzo.
Stephen S. Neill , the editor of The Catholic Virginian, said that the bishop
wrote this week to the sexual minorities panel, stating that "now is the time
for assessing the past and present mission and function of the commission in
light of the current needs of the diocese."

In his letter, the bishop said he would talk with the diocese’s priests council
and pastoral council, which represents lay Catholics, as well as other ministers
outside the diocese.

"'Until that consultation has been completed, the activities of the Sexual
Minority commission will cease to function,'" Neill said, quoting from
DiLorenzo’s letter.

The bishop has also dismissed a member of the diocese’s women’s commission,
68-year-old Judy Johnson of Virginia Beach.

Johnson is a lifelong Catholic who also serves as the secretary of the Women’s
Ordination Conference, an international group that has publicly lobbied Rome for
25 years to open the priesthood to both genders.

Johnson’s passionate support for women’s ordination proved no handicap when
Sullivan put her on the commission last summer. But her views didn’t pass muster
with DiLorenzo, who expects members of diocesan panels to support all Vatican
policies, Neill said.

Johnson, a grandmother with a Ph.D. in religion, said this week that she was
notified of her dismissal the same week DiLorenzo was installed as bishop.

At her request, DiLorenzo met with Johnson on June 25 to discuss her removal.

According to Johnson, the bishop said her view on ordination was "not Catholic"
and that she "had become a Protestant." He also objected to her role with the
Women’s Ordination Conference, a group he called "'opposed to what the church
teaches,'" Johnson said.

"He said, 'If I kept you on the commission, it’d be like the Hebrew University
letting in Hamas,'" Johnson said. Hamas is a terrorist organization dedicated to
the destruction of Israel, where Hebrew University is located.

Johnson said the meeting was friendly, and that she understood DiLorenzo’s
reasons for not wanting her on a diocesan panel. But in a letter she sent to
DiLorenzo on July 1 , Johnson said, "I am in my heart and soul a Catholic, as
strong a Catholic as anyone else."

Neill said DiLorenzo has declined to give details about his meeting with
Johnson. "He said, 'A gentleman does not reveal the contents of a private
conversation.'"


--

Edited July 14, 2004 by cmotherofpirl

[BurkeFan]

w00t. w00t to the nth degree. w00t.

[cappie]

That remark about needing permission to speak has been happening in my diocese in Australia for some years now. No one may be a guest speaker or take up a collection or have fundraising for a cause, outside the parish, without the permission of the [b]bishop[/b].

[St. Catherine]

I have heard that there have been questionable speakers at our parish. I guess we should have to get permission before inviting guest speakers.

[Sinner]

More! More!

[Crusader_4]

I am glad to see that the Vatican is putting its foot down and installing Bishops like this who are not afriad to stand up and promote Orthodoxy in all ways possible. This is great news!

[BeenaBobba]

God bless him! I'm so pleased with what I've read of him so far.

[ilovechrist]

YAY

Bishop Jugis is taking action in our Diocese as well!!

[mmmerf]

Encouraging news. It can be tough - I know our Archbishop (If you were at Steubenville East I he said the mass on Saturday) has had to lay down some heavy rules. But the youth love him. It's their parents who have trouble...

Dave

[lil bull 04]

yay! God bless him!

[Carnanc]

thats pretty sweet

[mamalove]

Wow! I hope when we finally get a bishop he's as cool as this one!!

[cmotherofpirl]

My friends in Denver spent 10 years praying weekly for a new faithful Bishop.

They got Bishop Chaput, one of the best on the country.

If you ask you will recieve.

[Mickey's_Girl]

[quote name='mmmerf' date='Jul 14 2004, 08:30 AM'] But the youth love him. It's their parents who have trouble...
[/quote]
Strange, but true. My priest told me that there was a lot of "experimentation" when today's parents were supposed to be learning about their faith, and a lot of them don't have a strong foundation, so they are often either clueless or hostile.

That makes me sad.

(Hurrah for the bishop, though! I hope he didn't find it too difficult an adjustment going from Hawaii to Virginia! )

MG

[Thy Geekdom Come]

Dopeness.