Church in the World

A friar-archbishop for a wounded diocese

A Capuchin friar who has won praise for dealing with the consequences of clerical sex abuse in his previous two dioceses has been appointed to Boston, the epicentre of last year?s scandal. Pope John Paul II on Tuesday named Sean O?Malley as Archbishop of Boston, less than 10 months after he was transferred to Palm Beach, Florida.

No other active archbishop has had such a short tenure in a diocese before his current posting. A Vatican official said the appointment was a highly unusual step which reflected Rome?s concern for the Boston situation and its confidence in the new archbishop. O?Malley, who is 59, succeeds Cardinal Bernard Law, who resigned last December amid public outrage over evidence that the Boston hierarchy had failed to act against abusive priests for fear of scandal. Hundreds of lawsuits, yet to be resolved, have been filed against the archdiocese. Since Law?s resignation, the archdiocese has been run by an apostolic administrator, Bishop Richard Lennon.

Boston, which until last year?s crisis was the jewel in the crown of the American Church, is made up of five counties of Massachusetts and has more than 2 million Catholics. It is the fourth US diocese to have been headed by Archbishop O?Malley, who is likely to be named a cardinal in the next consistory. A Capuchin friar since 1965 and a priest since 1970, he was named Bishop of St Thomas, Virgin Islands, in 1984 and Bishop of Fall River, Massachusetts, from 1992 to 2002. From October last year until Tuesday he was the Bishop of Palm Beach, Florida, where he is succeeded by Bishop Gerald Barbarito of Ogdensburg, New York.

Speaking at the chancery in Boston on Tuesday, the new archbishop set a conciliatory and humble tone, promising to usher in a new era of healing for those who faith had been rattled by the clerical sex abuse crisis. He said he was still ?shell-shocked? by the news of his appointment only 48 hours before.

Dressed in his simple Franciscan robe and a rope with three knots to remind him of his vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, O?Malley said he hoped he could become ?an instrument of peace and reconciliation in a Church in need of healing?, adding that the continuing work in response to the abuse crisis was an ?arduous task?. But said he felt ?privileged to be called? to confront it.

He said the archdiocese would settle the lawsuits pending against it and must find the money to do so. ?People?s lives are more important than money?, he said, adding that even if there were no legal obligation, there remained the moral obligation.

But he said the costs of the lawsuits were ?staggering? and had to be reconciled with the archdiocese?s budget. ?We want to do right by victims and at the same time carry on the essential elements of our mission?, he said.

Archbishop O?Malley, who said he has not decided whether to live in the chancery because as a Franciscan he prefers ?simple? living quarters, brings a new note of humility and openness to the archdiocese. O?Malley is described as unassuming, self-effacing, warm, passionately dedicated to helping others, strictly orthodox in defending church teaching, and with a reputation for holiness.

A recent article in the New York Times included O?Malley in a list of eight ?fixers? or bishop-healers in the US Catholic Church. During his two previous appointments he managed to bring order and calm to dioceses reeling from serious abuse allegations. Within a year of his appointment in 1992 as Bishop of Fall River, Massachusetts, the diocese reached a financial settlement with 68 people who said they had been abused by a priest of the diocese, James Porter, who was later sentenced to 18-20 years for molesting 28 children. The diocese paid for treatment and medication for Porter?s victims, and introduced reforms a decade before similar measures would be introduced in Boston.

Roderick MacLeish, the attorney who represented 101 of Porter?s victims, praised the appointment. He said ?there could never be a better person in this country to have this job and to try to bring about real healing in the archdiocese of Boston?.

O?Malley consolidated his reputation as Bishop of Palm Beach, Florida, where last year he assumed office following allegations of sexual impropriety by his two immediate predecessors. In June he wrote an open letter to the diocese in which he apologised to sex abuse victims, informed Catholics of new measures the diocese was taking to strengthen its sex abuse policy, and offered counselling to victims to encourage them to step forward.

In Boston the church groups which formed in the wake of the scandal last year added their voices to the positive reactions. Luise Dittrich, spokeswoman for the Voice of the Faithful, a lay Catholic group demanding greater accountability of the hierarchy, said she was ?very encouraged? by the choice.

Fr John McGinty, a member of the Boston Priests Forum which called on Cardinal Law to resign, said his record boded well for Boston. ?It?s a time of hope?, he said. ?And we certainly need that so much.?