Up and Running in DC: The Wuerl Machine

That sound you hear in the distance is one of the most storied work ethics of the modern American episcopate, all revved up on a new stage.

Archbishop Donald Wuerl of Washington has become a something of a legend for his meticulous, driven attention to practically everything in the office. The hard-charging administrative style -- schedule divvied up into 10-minute blocks, detailed command of figures large and small, lots of homework for aides and ordinary both -- inspires confidence and credibility, as Benedict XVI's most prominent American appointee to date doesn't expect anything of others that he doesn't demand of himself. But it's also been known to cause exhaustion among those trying to keep up with the onetime daily lap-swimmer, so much so that, while discussing one name in the mix for Wuerl's former diocese of Pittsburgh, I was advised that the use of the word "workhorse" in describing any potential Wuerl successor would cause a fit of agita at the offices he headed for 18 years.

Suffice it to say, the archbishop's vigor is a hallmark proper to him. And, true to form, the new head of the church in the nation's capital has begun to impose his stamp on its life and activities in, as one friend said, "Wuerl Time" -- a cadence being felt both within and outside the DC Pastoral Center.

Two months ago, Wuerl called in his catechetical crowd and said he desired a workshop for the archdiocese's religious ed folk. They were expecting a 2007 timetable. The archbishop, however, wanted it this year. And so it happened; an expected turnout of 1,700 became a crowd of 2,300 last Saturday for the convocation, held at the District's Renaissance Hotel.

"Religious education is a lifelong process," Archbishop Wuerl said. Paying special recognition to parents who serve as a child's first catechist, the archbishop also outlined the responsibility of bishops, priests, deacons, teachers, catechists and volunteers. "There is a longing of the human heart, a yearning for communion with God," he added.

Now is the time for teaching the faith, the prelate said. "We live in an age of hope." Urging all present to open their hearts to Christ, he said, "God will grace His Church in everyone who is prepared."

Archbishop Wuerl described several instances while on trips when fellow travelers wanted to discuss the Catholic faith with a priest. He noted that even among Catholics, there is a desire to clearly know what the Church proclaims. "We're challenged to awaken people to awareness" of faith and knowledge, Archbishop Wuerl said. "Many of the people we work with today simply drifted away," he said. "They are not angry at the Church; they simply don't know what it is we have to say."

In addition to witnessing the faith, the catechist or teacher ought to tell the story of Jesus with conviction while passing down the tradition of faith, the archbishop said. This is possible, he said, because of the faithful's connection to the apostles through their bishops, also referred to as apostolic succession.

Elsewhere in the see, Wuerl got the "first welcome [he's] ever received in a pub," speaking earlier in the month at a Theology on Tap:

It was the new Washington archbishop's first Theology on Tap and the standing-room-only crowd appeared enthusiastic to hear what he had to say. The gathering, sponsored by the archdiocese's Young Adult Ministry, was held at Ireland's Four Fields, a pub in Washington.

During his talk, the archbishop answered the question, "What does the Church have to say to me?" He began saying the Church gives answers to questions such as, "How shall I live? What are the values I'm going to use to live my life?" Either you answer those questions by default, Archbishop Wuerl said, or you listen to your heart and find answers out of your Christian identity. Then he asked, "What makes the Church worth listening to?" He said, "We need to take the time to reflect" on the bigger picture. The Church brings "2,000 years of reflection on the human condition guided by words of Jesus brought to us though the Spirit."

The Church does not tell people what they can do, but rather, what they ought to do, Archbishop Wuerl said, and he gave the examples of embryonic stem cell research and violence. "Who would want a society to say, 'you can kill one person for the good of another?'" he said. "We're stewards of life." On violence, the archbishop noted, "We turn to the Church" to define "moral parameters." Jesus "gave us purpose and understanding to our lives. I have chosen to follow Him when I make the big decisions in life. The Church brings the echo of His voice," Archbishop Wuerl said.

After the talk, the archbishop opened the evening up to questions, noting the listeners might have "alternate views or positions." The first question regarded what the Church says about Catholics' relationship with Muslims. The archbishop noted that because the world has become much smaller and people have become more familiar with each other, we "bump into each other in our views or ideology." But, he continued, there are "fringe elements" of the two religions that are "true of both." He said that what the Church will have to do is focus on is the "commonality rooted in human nature. We're made in the image of God. We need to hold each other to that and isolate the fringe elements...We all share the same human nature. The moral law that grows out of that is the one thing that holds us together."

In the office, the first set of Wuerl's administrative changes took effect on Monday. Among these are the return of Msgr Barry Knestout to chancery work, now at the helm of the Washington chancery's Secretariat for Pastoral Ministry and Social Concerns. Knestout served for many years as personal secretary to the late Cardinal James Hickey; many of you will remember him as the dead-ringer for his predecessor in that post, now Bishop Lori of Bridgeport.

Also, newly-elevated Msgr James Watkins took the reins of the archdiocesan Office for Worship. Watkins' attention to detail is no secret in the District; in planning Wuerl's installation liturgy in June, he amassed an impressive 71 pages of preparatory notes.

Suffice it to say, these changes aren't the last, with the archbishop investing more responsibilities in his deans and other areas of the administration -- not to mention the increasing buzz surrounding the potential promotion of vicar-general Bishop Kevin Farrell to the diocese of Dallas.

As always, stay tuned.

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PopeTrip Notes

With the Triduum behind and precisely three weeks to go til the papal touchdown in Redskins' Nation -- which, for three days, will really be more like "Redhats Nation" -- the drumbeat now begins in earnest toward the 15-20 April Ratzipalooza (aka "Apostolic Journey to the United States and United Nations") with stops at Washington, New York and the UN Headquarters.

Among other notable developments, the "set" for the climactic Sunday Eucharist at Gotham's Yankee Stadium -- commemorating the bicentennial of American Catholicism's first "expansion teams" -- has been revealed...

...and B16's first Stateside host has been working the newsroom circuit:

[Washington] Archbishop Donald Wuerl said Americans should expect something different from the man than what they saw when he served in his previous job as longtime head of the Congregation for The Doctrine of the Faith. That role required being a watchdog for Catholic doctrine.

Back then, Wuerl said, one of Benedict's key responsibilities was "to throw a flag if someone went out of bounds. If you're going to have intellectual ferment, intellectual discussion, you also have to have someone who throws the flag."

As pope, Wuerl said, Benedict has a different role - to be the living link to the Apostle Peter, to the earliest days of Christianity and to spread a message of hope to Catholics and non-Catholics alike, "that we are capable of a personal relationship with God." That, Wuerl says, is something many Americans want to hear, particularly at a time when religious practice and belief are in dramatic flux. He believes recent data showing one in ten Americans is an ex-Catholic simply reflects normal American "drifting," and "shopping around." The history and truth of Catholicism, he says, will bring them back eventually.

"In our country we are so taken up with the individual. Everyone wants to realize their greatest potential, and that's good, but there are some things we do as a family," he said. People want to know: "How do I verify that what I believe is more than just what I think about things? Our function is to make people realize it's in this 2,000-year-old family that you find that verification."

Articulating the core agenda of Pope Benedict, Wuerl said Catholics drifted in recent decades because the church failed to teach the basics of their doctrine. "We were trying all kinds of new things, and outreach was to be personalized. We didn't tell the next generation what we actually believed."...

Wuerl was vague about some hot topics, including whether the pope will discuss the church's sexual abuse scandal and/or speak with sex abuse victims. "I'd assume somewhere he will address that topic. One thing I'd like to renew again is the sorrow of church leadership that this happened."

Still Issue #1 on the public mind, don't be surprised if Benedict's first comments on the abuse storm come on Wuerl's home-turf... and not just because the 17 April Mass in Nationals' Park will have a special focus on the young, who'll fill the prized seats closest to the center-field altar.

One of the first US bishops to "throw a flag" on predator priests, the DC prelate was singled out for praise in a new book by a key player in the church's first response to the crisis.

As bishop of Pittsburgh, Wuerl famously went to battle over a Vatican ruling that would've forced him to keep a thrice-accused priest in ministry, finally winning a rare reversal in 1995. And so, in the opening pages of a first-of-its-kind study exploring how the bishops already had the canonical tools to remove accused clerics at their disposal long before the scandal exploded in 2002, author Nicholas Cafardi dedicates Before Dallas to Wuerl -- who, he writes, "did the right thing the first time."

An Angelicum-trained canonist and former dean of Duquesne Law, Cafardi was a founding member of the US bishops' National Lay Review Board for the protection of children and young people, serving as the body's chair from 2004 to 2006.

Also from the District, a notable eight-column catechesis on the "Keys to the Kingdom: From Peter to Benedict" has been making the rounds courtesy of the capital's Catholic Standard.

* * *

In matters fiscal, The Don -- Benedict's most-prominent US appointee to date -- recently estimated that the Potomac leg of the PopeTrip will light up the ledgers to the tune of "at least" $3 million... plus a reported Uncle Ted-style parting gift.

As for furniture, while Pharaohtown -- still the capital... of Wojtyla Country -- never figured in the visit plans, the PapaChair for the 16 April Vespers with the US bishops at Washington's Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception is the work of a local firm. And at least one PopeThrone is being recycled; the seat the late Great used for a 1995 liturgy at Brooklyn's Aqueduct Racetrack will get an encore at the interreligious encounter at the capital's John Paul II Cultural Center (or, as it's known to veteran readers, "Maida Temple"). Both chairs will be X-rayed by the Secret Service before taking their places in the limelight.

From the vesture desk, correcting an earlier notice, liturgical vestments are being produced on these shores for the Pope's use on the trip, with the garb's preliminary designs said to have met the muster of the pontiff's (invariably cassock-clad) MC, Msgr Guido "Ecco!" Marini.

The Star isn't even wheels-down yet, but the trek claimed its first "casualty" over the Triduum when its lead Stateside organizer -- the papal nuncio Archbishop Pietro Sambi -- canceled out of both Good Friday and Holy Saturday at the DC Shrine, citing illness and said to be looking "run down." Particularly given Sambi's role as communicator-in-chief of the visit and its purposes thanks to an unprecedeted gauntlet of major interviews -- as effective and provocative as they've been high-profile -- here's hoping Big Boss has a tank of soup, whatever else he needs; keep him, his mission, and his quick and complete bounce-back especially in your prayers.

And lastly, you know the business is hard-up for talent when your narrator gets called on to do a quarter-hour block of Easter morn major-market TV. (Per usual, just the work our betters declined.)

Apologies for the notice, but it gives me another chance to say thanks to all of you for reading, all your kindness, support, encouragement and, in the most literal sense, thanks for the shirt on my back. Gammarelli it ain't -- no ontologically-deficient bargain rack there... but what matters is that it fits... and it gets the job done... just like these pages. I hope.

Pray for me, church, and get ready... it's gonna be one doozy of a month.

PHOTO: National Catholic Register/Pope2008.com/SEG Events

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In the Capital, The Cardinal Resigns... Yet For Now, The Cardinal Remains

Six days since the Holy See began tackling Crisis 2.0 in earnest – and amid an epic, months-long storm for the US' longest-serving diocesan bishop – at Roman Noon this Friday the Pope granted the retirement of Cardinal Donald Wuerl as archbishop of Washington, nearly three years after the capital prelate reached the canonical age of 75, and after weeks of public candor on his wish to be released from the role.

At the same time, in a uniquely personal way, Francis has designated Wuerl – who'll turn 78 next month – as apostolic administrator of the 750,000-member fold spanning the District and its Maryland suburbs pending the Pope's choice of his successor, which isn't expected to come for at least several months, most likely in the New Year.

While prior speculation saw the cardinal's resignation coming in tandem with the appointment of another prelate as the DC church's interim head to allow some "breathing space" from the roiled scene in the wake of twin controversies over abuse and the handling of cases, as Rome's chosen caretaker, Wuerl will unusually retain the full powers of the archbishop during an open-ended vacancy; under normal circumstances, a departing bishop is only named administrator once his successor has been chosen, in which case the transition only lasts two months.

In the temporary role, the cardinal – who hasn't made public appearances over the last month – is likely to carry out some degree of deck-clearing in terms of difficult calls, so that the next archbishop won't be saddled with making tough or unpopular decisions at the outset of his tenure.

As for the process itself, here it bears recalling how it wasn't until the final weeks of then-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick's succession in early 2006 that Wuerl – then nearly two decades in as bishop of his native Pittsburgh – surfaced as a contender for the capital seat. Along the same lines, as the state of the DC archdiocese has been upended by McCarrick's historic June downfall amid allegations of sexual abuse of minors, alongside revelations of a history of harassment of seminarians and young priests – then compounded by the bruising fallout of Wuerl's presence in August's Pennsylvania grand-jury report on abuse in the state's six dioceses, led by Pittsburgh – the standard consultation is expected to run deeper than usual, with a priority for a healer added in to the already formidable need both for a pastor who can unite a bitterly polarized fold, and a sound administrator able to plan for the ongoing, almost staggering growth of what's rapidly become one of US Catholicism's most energetic and diverse outposts, which'll soon be twice the size of the church Wuerl himself inherited a dozen years ago.

While all bets are off on the outcome – at least, for now – given its unique mix of circumstances and demands, what'll unfold is virtually certain to be Francis' most high-stakes American appointment of his entire pontificate. Accordingly, as early indications go, the talent scouts are prepared to dig deep into the Stateside bench to find the optimal choice – and in one form or another, we could well end up with a surprise. (At the same time, it bears recalling that Wuerl would have a doubly impactful voice on Francis' pick, both in his preparation of the report on the state of the archdiocese, then at the process' close as the senior US member of the Congregation for Bishops. Then again, in both his earlier major Stateside picks – Chicago in 2014 and Newark in 2016 – Papa Bergoglio circumvented the global body of cardinals normally tasked with making a recommendation, choosing instead to take his own soundings and make the selections by himself.)

Having released his own letter to the faithful repeatedly begging forgiveness for his own lapses and those of church leadership, the day's even more notable missive was the one Wuerl received: an extraordinary personal word from Francis – a practically unheard of gesture by a pontiff on the resignation of a prelate, let alone one under the shadow of a crisis, but nonetheless a striking sign of the Pope's enduring regard for his close confidant.

Released by the Washington Chancery with this morning's announcement, below is the English translation of the Pope's text:

To our Venerable Brother

Card. DONALD WILLIAM WUERL

Archbishop of Washington

On September 21st I received your request that I accept your resignation from the pastoral governance of the Archdiocese of Washington.

I am aware that this request rests on two pillars that have marked and continue to mark your ministry: to seek in all things the greater glory of God and to procure the good of the people entrusted to your care. The shepherd knows that the wellbeing and the unity of the People of God are precious gifts that the Lord has implored and for which he gave his life. He paid a very high price for this unity and our mission is to take care that the people not only remain united, but become witnesses of the Gospel “That they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me” (Jn 17.21). This is the horizon from which we are continually invited to discern all our actions.

I recognize in your request the heart of the shepherd who, by widening his vision to recognize a greater good that can benefit the whole body (cf. Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii gaudium, 235), prioritizes actions that support, stimulate and make the unity and mission of the Church grow above every kind of sterile division sown by the father of lies who, trying to hurt the shepherd, wants nothing more than that the sheep be dispersed (cf. Mt 26.31).

You have sufficient elements to “justify” your actions and distinguish between what it means to cover up crimes or not to deal with problems, and to commit some mistakes. However, your nobility has led you not to choose this way of defense. Of this, I am proud and thank you.

In this way, you make clear the intent to put God’s Project first, before any kind of personal project, including what could be considered as good for the Church. Your renunciation is a sign of your availability and docility to the Spirit who continues to act in his Church.

In accepting your resignation, I ask you to remain as Apostolic Administrator of the Archdiocese until the appointment of your successor.

Dear brother, I make my own the words of Sirach: “You who fear the Lord, trust in him, and your reward will not be lost” (2.8). May the Virgin Mary protect you with her mantle and may the strength of the Holy Spirit give you the grace to know how to continue to serve him in this new time that the Lord gives you.

Vatican City, October 12, 2018

FRANCIS

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To Burke's YouTube, Wuerl's "You Face"

Three years ago this month, Pope Benedict's reshaping of the American hierarchy in his own image began with the appointment of the "famously mild" Donald Wuerl -- theologian, Curial veteran, conference man and "education bishop" -- to the archbishopric of Washington, the hottest seat of the Stateside church's political crucible.

It was no accident -- according to several reports, the pontiff tapped Wuerl on his own initiative, declining the recommendation forwarded to him by the Congregation for Bishops. And from the first, the move was seen as both a building upon the game-changing legacy of his predecessor, Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who redefined the post, leveraging its voice beyond the capital to unprecedented effect, and a contrast of style from the omnipresent verve Wuerl's New York-bred predecessor brought to the city's political and social scenes.

Yet despite their marked differences in personality, both DC archbishops have taken heat in recent years for serving in turn as the lead voice of the majority of the American bench opposed to public denial of the Eucharist to those politicians whose platforms don't square with definitive church teaching.

While McCarrick faced scornful criticism from rank-and-file anti-abortion activists over his stance, the tensions escalated earlier this year when Wuerl -- who, as bishop of Pittsburgh, penned a widely-circulated treatise on the question during its first outbreak in 2004 campaigns -- seemed to be squarely in the sights of Archbishop Raymond Burke as, in a videotaped interview shown at a Washington press conference, the church's "chief justice" insisted that Canon 915 (the law that those "obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to holy communion") be universally, uncompromisingly applied by diocesan bishops.

Within 24 hours of the video's airing, Burke retreated, apologizing for the "confusion and hurt" that, as he described it, his words were "used as part of a campaign of severe criticism of certain fellow bishops," adding that the comments were not given in his capacity as prefect of the Apostolic Signatura, the Vatican's highest court.

Now, however, with the former St Louis archbishop slated to give the highly-awaited keynote at tomorrow morning's National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in Wuerl's archdiocese, a conspicuously-timed interview sees the DC prelate hitting back in his strongest language yet at what PoliticsDaily's Melinda Henneberger calls the "whole game of Who's More Catholic?"

Emphases original:

"There's always been a certain amount of [infighting]," Wuerl said, "but the polarization in our culture seems to flow into our Church. It's the society in which we live – it's so easy to be anonymous. We have websites, YouTube and You Face'' – Facebook, I think he means – "so people can unburden themselves.''

On the question of who should and should not be allowed to receive Communion, people are all too happy to be quoted by name, aren't they?

Sure, he says, because this is also "an age of polemicists'' who "seem to think they're not bound by the commandment, 'You shall not bear false witness.' The glorification of pundits contributes'' to a world in which "you're not bound by the rules of decency.''

He's beyond sorry to see Communion wielded as a weapon: "That's the new way now to make your point. We never – the Church just didn't use Communion this way. It wasn't a part of the way we do things, and it wasn't a way we convinced Catholic politicians to appropriate the faith and live it and apply it; the challenge has always been to convince people.'' Whereas sanctioning them, in his view, has the opposite effect.

For bishops, "there are two different approaches'' to bring Catholic politicians in line with Church teaching. "One is the pastoral, teaching mode, and the other is the canonical approach'' – the legal approach, in other words.

He doesn't think it's a very close call: "I have yet to see where the canonical approach has changed anyone's heart.''

Has he seen his approach change anyone's heart? He smiles, and says one has to take the long view: "The teaching approach that we've used for centuries requires patience, persistence and insistence, but I believe if we teach our people, we will not have a problem with our politicians.''

Of Pelosi in particular, he cites two big reasons he hasn't and won't try to keep her from receiving Communion: First, "there's a question about whether this canon [915]'' – the relevant church law – "was ever intended to be used'' to bring politicians to heel. He thinks not. "I stand with the great majority of American bishops and bishops around the world in saying this canon was never intended to be used this way.''

And second? Pelosi, as a San Franciscan, "isn't part of my flock!''

Moving on to the issue of embryonic stem cell research, I wonder if Obama's position is really all that different from Bush's. Though Obama has loosened restrictions on federally funded research, he hasn't done away with them, and Bush, too, allowed a limited amount of study. So is the difference really quantitative rather than qualitative? No, Wuerl says, it isn't, in part because the terms of the stem-cell debate have been set by the conversation over abortion.

Is that conversation ever going to get us anywhere?

"I would hope that with quiet, articulate persuasion, hearts can be changed. When we were growing up, one way we knew to pay attention was when my father spoke very softly and slowly; then we knew we were in trouble.''

I tell him that in my own experience, that hasn't worked at all; no matter how mildly or respectfully expressed, my pro-life views only infuriate my fellow liberals, who literally can't hear me when I talk about abortion. Meanwhile, I can't fathom why the party of science – my party, in all other regards – maintains that it's only a baby if and when we say it's a baby.

"Oh, I think we've been making progress,'' Wuerl assures me. "There was just a setback with the distraction of Communion. But sonograms are an enormous support. I still remember the day I got the call from our niece and she said, 'We just saw our baby!' She called me on my cell phone, which is really supposed to be for emergencies. But back to what we said earlier, [proponents of abortion rights] have to keep the child anonymous. The party of science also couldn't bring itself to recognize that an embryo is the beginning of human life.''

What most worries him about Obama's shift on stem cell research, he says, is "the perception that this administration is moving us to a point where people who conscientiously object to taking human life'' might lose their jobs in clinics and hospitals as a result. That's a fear expressed by opponents of the Freedom of Choice Act, which would eliminate restrictions on abortion and might – or might not – force pro-life heath care workers to choose between their jobs and their beliefs.

Only, FOCA has zero chance of passing, or even being introduced, doesn't it? Wuerl strongly disagrees, closing his eyes and tapping his finger on the conference table in front of him as he argues, "FOCA will probably be passed, but not using the name FOCA. It will be repackaged so it will have a new name, and they'll do it step by step."...

He also disagrees when I equate Notre Dame's invitation to pro-choice Obama to its past invitations to George W. Bush, as enthusiastic a proponent of capital punishment as is possible to find, or to Ronald Reagan only a few months after the murder of Catholic nuns by Salvadoran death squads funded by the government his administration was supporting.

"The big difference is that abortion is the defining issue of this generation," Wuerl says. "Those other situations you're talking about could have gone either way. On the death penalty, the church has said it's not necessary, but it hasn't said it's intrinsic evil.''

Then the famously mild Wuerl goes all fire and brimstone on me – in his smiling, bookish way: "In his circles of Hell, Dante places the people with sins of passion at the very brim – barely burned. But at the core are those who sinned against the truth.''

And circling back to where we began, he says he sees a lot of sinning against the truth in our squabbling over who is and is not fit to call himself a Catholic. Yet in the very long run, he remains optimistic, both as a Catholic and as an American: "One of the best parts of our nation is if we're left to struggle with an issue long enough, we'll get it right. The truth wins; you just have to wait a long time, and that's why the Catholic Church feels so comfortable preaching and teaching, preaching and teaching, preaching and teaching... We're in it for the long haul.''

Speaking of tomorrow's breakfast -- a favorite of church conservatives that became a standing appointment for former President Bush -- Wuerl gave the keynote at the 2007 nosh in the presence of the 43rd Commander-in-Chief.

Keeping with his standard practice since, however, the capital's chief shepherd won't be attending the early-morning event.

PHOTO: AP/Steve Ruark

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Seeking Capital's "New Beginning," The Cardinal Eyes His Exit

For more than three decades, he's been squarely in medias res – first a John Paul II "teaching bishop," then Benedict XVI's first top US appointee and, finally, "something more pastoral" under Francis.

By turns he's managed decline and overseen growth, served as a healer or lightning rod depending on the need of the moment, been Relator of a Roman Synod, a member of the Congregation for Bishops – and along the way, become the only Stateside prelate ever to host two papal visits....

And for all that, what no one could've imagined is that the long, storied run would end like this.

Battered by the confluence of two sudden storms – the historic downfall of his predecessor, then the equally stunning blow of a grand jury's claim that he mishandled abuse cases at the helm of his hometown church – Cardinal Donald Wuerl has effectively set his departure as archbishop of Washington in motion, telling his priests in a letter released Tuesday night that he would go to Rome "in the very near future" to discuss his long-pending retirement with the Pope "so that this archdiocesan church we all love can move forward."

Nearly three years since submitting his required exit letter on his 75th birthday, as previously reported, Wuerl's succession process had initially been expected through the first half of this year, but was suddenly short-circuited owing to the allegation of abuse of a minor levied in January against then-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, which led to the retired prelate's removal from ministry on the charge's finding as credible and substantiated in June.

Given the gravity of the situation – and the simple reality that the 750,000-member capital church had largely been spared from prior abuse storms, and thus wasn't prepared for the fallout – it was ostensibly deemed that a change of leadership would've further destabilized the scene, plunging a new archbishop's tenure into crisis at its outset. What wasn't anticipated, however, was the seismic impact of the Pennsylvania grand jury report, whose blistering treatment of several – but not all – of the cases Wuerl oversaw during his 18 years as bishop of his native Pittsburgh (1988-2006) proved sufficient to blow a hole in the narrative the future cardinal long burnished of having purged the ranks of abusers a decade before the Dallas Norms made "zero tolerance" national law.

As the ferocious blowback to the August findings saw Wuerl become the report's de facto public face as the top active hierarch mentioned, the cardinal's name was quickly removed from Pittsburgh’s newest diocesan high school complex, but not before the sign outside it was vandalized.

Indeed, even more than what's unfolded in the ever-politicized spotlight of the capital and the broader Catholic conversation, the sunset of Wuerl’s glistening legacy in the Steel City is arguably the roughest cut of all. Having been a near-omnipresent figure during his tenure there – hosting a catechetical TV show, drumming up broad support for Catholic schools and, all around, enjoying a civic prominence on a par with a generation of mayors – since his 2006 departure for Washington, Wuerl has effectively served from afar as Pittsburgh's "Über-Bishop," still returning home to preside at major events, most recently celebrating last year's cathedral funeral for Dan Rooney: the daily communicant, Steelers owner and US ambassador to Ireland, a close friend of the cardinal's whose backing was a mainstay for practically every charitable work of the local church and beyond.

As for what's next, there'll be time for that in due course. For now, however, much as it's become increasingly obvious that the abuse storms have drastically recast the calculus for the process which will produce Wuerl's DC successor, beyond the need for healing, the even longer-frame challenge facing the capital church is its reality of extraordinary growth – the archdiocese boomed by roughly a third since 2006, the parishes of the archdiocese's Maryland suburbs boast a reality that's far more Southeast than Northeast, not a few requiring a dozen weekend Masses across several languages, with schools that are as packed as the tuition is high. Accordingly, even if the seventh archbishop will have a "baptism by fire" in arriving to more than enough tensions to soothe on the ecclesial and political fronts, the pick's ability to plan for the future arguably remains his most significant task at hand.

In terms of potentialities, it's likewise too early for that – for one, too many key players remain too shocked at the turn of events to fully process what's happened...

...yet what's more, an occurrence that didn't come to pass in 2002 but already has this time – namely, a markedly shifted power dynamic at the top of the nation's largest religious body – is only beginning to sink in, its full effect still to become clear.

All that said, below is the text of Wuerl's letter, released last night through the diocesan channels:

Dear Brother Priest,

On Monday, September 3, prior to our annual Labor Day gathering, we had an opportunity to pray together and, as I was asked by our Holy Father Pope Francis, to discern the best course of action for me to pursue as we face new revelations of the extent of the horror of the clergy abuse of children and the failures in episcopal oversight. At issue is how to begin effectively to bring a new level of healing to survivors who have personally suffered so much and to the faithful entrusted to our care who have also been wounded by the shame of these terrible actions and have questions about their bishop’s ability to provide the necessary leadership.

It was clear that some decision, sooner rather than later, on my part is an essential aspect so that this archdiocesan Church we all love can move forward. As a fruit of our discernment I intend, in the very near future, to go to Rome to meet with our Holy Father about the resignation I presented nearly three years ago, November 12, 2015.

Our discernment here, I believe, has indicated the way forward to bring healing and a new beginning at the service of this Church. I am particularly grateful for your patience and respect for this time of discernment.

I ask you please to include me in your prayers.

Faithfully in Christ,

Cardinal Donald Wuerl
Archbishop of Washington

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Wuerly-Bird Gets the Pope... and Talks The Visit

Especially in the church, not many people celebrate their birthday with a press conference.

But on his 67th birthday Monday, Archbishop Donald Wuerl had barely entered a media room at the bishops' hotel when a phalanx of cameras (above) unexpectedly swarmed the DC prelate, who (given Cardinal Edward Egan's absence) got the spotlight to himself in addressing the just-confirmed April papal visit.

As the beaming archbishop beamed zipped through question after question before the formally-scheduled presser, longtime Wuerl-watchers said they hadn't seen The Don so happy in quite some time. The birthday prelate had only been advised hours before that the Washington nuncio Archbishop Pietro Sambi would formally announce the coming PopeTrip in his opening remarks to the November meeting, a break from Vatican protocol that served to shock most of the rest of the packed ballroom where the news went public.

The most prominent US appointee to date of B16's pontificate, Wuerl will serve as the Pope's first host during the five-day jaunt... and began laying out his expectations for the journey in the archdiocesan paper:

"There is so much renewal going on - among our young people, in the whole Church," [Wuerl] said. "His visit will be a reaffirmation of that. But also I'd like to think it's going to be a way of just re-energizing us."

He said he believes the emphasis of the pope's trip will be "on the renewal of the faith life of the Church."...

"This visit will be an opportunity for all of us in the Church in Washington to show the Holy Father our affection, to show him our profound loyalty, but also to demonstrate to him how alive the Church in Washington is, how profoundly faith-filled the Church is."...

At a midday press conference Nov. 12 and speaking informally to reporters before and after it, Archbishop Wuerl said that in visiting the nation's capital "the Holy Father is attempting to speak to the Church throughout the United States."

He said that when it was first announced last summer that the pope was considering a U.N. visit next spring, "it seemed appropriate to invite him to Washington."

He noted that Washington is the home of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' national offices, of the Catholic University of America - the bishops' national university - and of the National Shrine.

The fact that the pope would make Washington his first stop "says to me that he sees this as a center representing the entire Church in the United States," he said.

He said the pope's plan to address representatives of Catholic higher education at Catholic University highlights the importance of faith formation and Catholic education in the life of the Church.

The archbishop said preparing for the papal visit "will be a lot of work, but it'll be joyful work, because we'll be welcoming the head of the Church. We'll be welcoming the successor to Peter, and he will come here to say to all of us, 'Be strong in your faith. ... Be a light of the Gospel to this country.'"

"I think the theme that I would reflect on for the archdiocese, and therefore for his visit to the Church, is ... we can make everything new in Christ if we really put our heart into it," he said.

Asked how ticket distribution would be handled for the stadium Mass, Archbishop Wuerl said he didn't know yet.

"I suspect there will be more people who want to see and be with the pope than there are places at the stadium. ... We have to take into account that there will be people coming from all over the country," he said. "They will not see this as a Washington event. They will see it as a national event."

"I think that we have to make sure that people - especially our young people - get a chance to see him," he added. "That's going to take some planning on our part, but I think the principle we want to work from is (that) we want to make sure the coming generation of Catholic young people get a chance to see him."

Since Pope Benedict's election in 2005, a recurring theme of his papacy has been a call to an increasingly secularized Europe to return to its Christian roots.

Archbishop Wuerl said the challenge of secularization will be an important part of the context for the U.S. visit as well.

"That is the context. I believe the context for the Church today is this background, a highly secularized, very here-and-now-focused world," he said. "The task of the Church is to remind us that there's more. It's not by bread alone that we live, there's more. And the 'more' is our relationship with God."

Unaware that he was seeking out the insight of one of the heated question's lead combatants, a TV hand in the pre-conference scrum asked Wuerl if, a la Brazil, the Pope would offer some pointed words for US prelates in barring politicians who conflict with church teaching from the Eucharist.

In reply, the archbishop offered that Benedict would have "wider issues" to discuss. Benedict, he said, is coming "to talk about the faith."

* * *

On a related note, it's no secret that a bunch of places are rather bummed over their absence from next April's papal itinerary. Within minutes of Monday's formal announcement of the plans, it didn't take long for the Boston media to blare "Pope Snubs Hub" or something of the kind on their sites -- further stoking the outrage by playing up B16's choice of Yankee Stadium for his final public appearance.

It seems that this whole "Why not us?" exercise is yet another commentary on the impact and legacy of John Paul II. While, before the fall of 1979, the previous 263 Roman pontiffs had spent a combined 14 hours in North America, the late Great's travels so transformed the Petrine ministry in the public eye that, now, everyone expects a pop-in. In other words, the exception has become perceived as the norm.

Among other spots wondering why they won't be getting a wheels-down from Papa Ratzi is, of course, here in Philadelphia. Candidly, it didn't help matters that, for weeks on end, the hometown media had been running with unfounded speculation that this city was a possible stop -- even though, in truth, a papal dinner of soft pretzels and cheesesteaks was never in the cards in any credible sense (...a reality which, it must be said, two months of exclusive PopeVisit coverage on these pages consistently reflected).

Whatever the case, today's Daily News called on your narrator to help explain why the River City didn't make the cut.

It's always a gift to lend an assist to my alma mater, the paper whose format and ethic influenced these pages more than any other, and especially to Gar Joseph's weekly Clout, the Philly political crowd's answer to Whispers. Even so, however, one of Joseph's surmises in the final product was a bit off-base.

"One big difference between John Paul's [1979] visit" and the next papal trip, he wrote, "is that Philly had clout with the former and has none with [Benedict]."

Sure, it could be (and has been) said that we Phillyans are a bit used to being spoilt, especially in the ecclesiastical realm. Lest anyone be misled, however, "no clout" in this pontificate could hardly be the case.

For starters, this Pope's unprecedented appointment of a Philly Pharaoh to the Congregation for Bishops (as the august body's only resident American, to boot), and a native son's 24 year-long wait for the red hat finally at an end are, especially when taken together, nothing to thumb one's nose at.

What's more, the former Cardinal Ratzinger's ties to the city stretch back decades. The future pontiff headlined a days-long 1989 moral theology conference at St Charles Borromeo Seminary, and one of his cherished "family" of CDF aides was local boy Msgr Thomas Herron, who died of pancreatic cancer a year before his Boss' election.

(Having returned home as a beloved pastor and seminary professor in the patristics, in Herron's final months the Pope-to-be kept close tabs on his good friend's condition, staying in close touch to keep him comforted and encouraged. If there's one personal sadness to Benedict's passing over, it's that he won't be able to take a private moment at Herron's place of rest -- a tradition his Bavarian upbringing cherishes, one the burden of his office now prohibits, at least not without an attendant circus of security and logistics.)

Sure, nothing will ever equal the Krol-Wojtyla bond (without which, it could be said, the Krakowian mightn't have landed on Peter's chair) and, in his 81st year, B16 -- who last came to these shores a decade ago -- doesn't have the same knack for seeming omnipresence. But where it counts, American Catholicism's Last Empire is still holding its own and then some in the Vatican shuffle... even without a PopeStop... and even, so they say, with a certain enfant terrible still in residence.

Bottom line: if this town was really were off its game, we'd have no reason to put a biretta on Billy Penn.

PHOTO: AP/Steve Ruark

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Anglicanorum Wuerlibus

In the biggest stride yet toward the establishment of a Stateside ordinariate for groups of Anglicans who, while maintaining their liturgical patrimony, seek to enter into communion with Rome, the CDF has named Archbishop Donald Wuerl of Washington as its delegate to facilitate mass receptions on these shores in accord with Anglicanorum coetibus.

Tipped by many to be in line for the cardinal's red hat at the coming consistory -- which, according to some reports, could be announced by B16 as soon as next month -- the appointment is a sign of Rome's continuing regard for the famously-efficient capital prelate, who turns 70 in November.

Long a "conference man," Wuerl already serves in one high-profile USCCB post as chair of the bench's Doctrine Committee.

For the rest, here below, the Mothership release:

In this position, [Wuerl] is a delegate of the congregation and heads the U.S. bishops’ ad hoc committee charged with assisting CDF in implementing the apostolic constitution Anglicanorum coetibus. Pope Benedict XVI issued the document in November 2009 to provide for establishing personal ordinariates for Anglican groups who seek to enter corporately into full communion with the Catholic Church.

The personal ordinariate is a canonical structure similar to a diocese that covers the area of a bishops’ conference. This permits the incoming Anglicans to be part of the Catholic Church while maintaining aspects of their Anglican heritage and liturgical practice.

Other members of the ad hoc committee are Bishop Kevin Vann of Fort Worth, Texas, and Bishop Robert McManus of Worcester, Massachusetts. The committee will be assisted by Father Scott Hurd, who was ordained an Episcopal priest in 1993, joined the Catholic Church in 1996, and was ordained a Catholic priest for the Archdiocese of Washington in 2000. Father Hurd will assist Archbishop Wuerl as staff to the ad hoc committee and a liaison to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).

Interested Anglicans are asked to contact Archbishop Wuerl through the Washington Archdiocese.

The ad hoc committee has two tasks:

To facilitate the implementation of Anglicanorum coetibus in the United States
To assess the level of interest in such an ordinariate in the United States.

Charged with taking requests for communion and facilitating petitioning groups' process of reception into the fold, Anglicanorum delegates are being named for each episcopal conference where an ordinariate could potentially emerge; Canada's is another widely-tipped cardinal-in-waiting -- Archbishop Thomas Collins of Toronto -- while Auxiliary Bishop Peter Elliott of Melbourne (himself a former Anglican priest) is handling the task for the Australian bishops. (While we're at it, another CDF delegate on these shores is Archbishop John Myers of Newark, who handles requests for the Pastoral Provision -- the case-by-case Roman dispensation from celibacy for married former clergy of other churches who seek to be ordained in the Catholic priesthood.)

Intriguingly, it bears noting that Rome's choice of its US delegate has fallen to a prelate: 1. whose mentor, the late Cardinal John Wright, bore a particularly concerted devotion to the now-Blessed John Henry Newman... and 2. who is particularly well known to the most prominent leader of US Anglicanism's breakaway traditional faction.

Bishop of his native Pittsburgh until his DC transfer in 2006, Wuerl shares warm ties with the Steel City's former Episcopal bishop, Robert Duncan, who led much of his flock out of the Anglican Communion's traditional American province last year to become the founding head of a parallel group, the Anglican Church in North America. (Duncan was accordingly deposed as a cleric of the Episcopal church.)

What's more, after the 2003 consecration of New Hampshire's Gene Robinson as the Communion's first openly-gay hierarch -- the watershed moment in Anglicanism's long-simmering divide over hot-button doctrinal and moral questions -- the roots for what's become the ACNA were laid at a summit in Plano, Texas, which drew an eyebrow-raising letter from a lone ecumenical representative pledging his "heartfelt prayers" for the gathering as he observed that "significance of your meeting is [being] sensed far beyond" the South, and even beyond the walls of the Anglican Communion.

Said conspicuous greeter? Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.

On a side-note, earlier this month Wuerl released another meticulous pastoral letter, this one on the New Evangelization.

PHOTO: Getty

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Tackling the Digital Classroom

Archbishop Donald Wuerl celebrated Mass this past Sunday at Washington's St Matthew's Cathedral to mark the 40th anniversary of his priestly ordination.

Continuing the celebrations, and as he preps for his first Christmas in the capital, the quintessential Benedictine choice -- who the Pope said he picked after "considering" (as opposed to "accepting") the opinion of the Congregation for Bishops" -- held a digital chat yesterday on the website of the Washington Post.

Money exchange:

Potomac, Md.: Where do your true loyalties lie -- Steelers or Redskins?

Donald Wuerl: Fortunately, the teams are in different conferences and both apparently need prayers.

Snips from the rest:

Herndon, Va.: Do you think it is your duty to discuss the Church's position on life issue -- abortion and stem cell research in particular -- directly with Catholic Senators and Representatives. If yes, have you?

Donald Wuerl: Among the topics that I have addressed with consistency and regularity in my entire priestly and Episcopal ministry, which stretches over 40 years, is the defense of human life. We are often told that all the Church talks about is the "pro-life agenda." This, of course, isn't true, but it does reflect how high a priority the Church gives to the life issues and how human life is treated today. One reason why we are such a persistent voice in defense of the sanctity of life, the God-given origin of life is because there is so much said and done in our culture today that underlines that understanding. We are at a real crossroad in our culture today. We have to clearly explain and proclaim the uniqueness of human life in a way that convinces others of this reality. Otherwise we could face a society in which human life was reduced to a simple commodity. Hence, the great worry over embryonic stem cell research that is so regularly encouraged in our land. Once we appropriate to ourselves the right to end human life at any age, we set the stage for the unbridled manipulation and use of the lives of others.

"Pro-life agenda" in quotes.... Hmm.

Mount Rainier, M.: Archbishop Wuerl, given this archdiocese's unique location in our nation's capital, how do you see bringing the Church's teachings on justice and peace into the public square -- particularly in relation to the unjust war and occupation of Iraq, on U.S. use of torture, as well as the further building of the fence at the U.S.-Mexico border.

It seems we need more prophetic Catholic voices to "speak truth to power," to speak out clearly on issues. Thank you.

Donald Wuerl: Every pastor, priest or bishop, has an opportunity and obligation to teach the faith. Necessarily, the faith will impact on our lives, on our actions and the positions we take individually and collectively. For that reason, I would see my ministry as one that includes presenting clearly and I hope persuasively the teaching of the Church in every situation so that those who have to make political decisions, which happens regularly in Washington, would be fully apprised of the obligations that flow from the Gospel....

Annapolis, Md.: Excellency,

Now that you know your archdiocese better, what is the top priority for the archdiocese in particular, and the Church in general, today? The choices that one usually hears about include orthodoxy, vocations, social services, evangelization, ecumenism, political action, and uniting people of different cultures (such as when a large immigrant population from Asia or Latin America moves into a hitherto homogeneous parish). Which one or two things are most urgent today?

Donald Wuerl: Today, the Church faces the challenge of proclaiming the Gospel and telling the story of Jesus in a world that is caught up in so much activity and often focused almost entirely on the here and now. Our task is to continually remind people of their relationship with God. The priority of the Church today is pretty much the same as it has been from the beginning: tell people the Good News that God not only loves us, but is with us and wants to have a living relationship with us.

Tomorrow is the six-month anniversary of Wuerl's installation as archbishop of Washington.

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The Grand Relator: For DC Cardinal, A Key Vatican Nod

While the celebration of Saturday's first-ever feast of Blessed John Paul II was initially limited to Rome and the dioceses of Papa Wojtyla's native Poland, one of the handful of Stateside locales that got to join in was Washington, where Cardinal Donald Wuerl had successfully petitioned the Holy See earlier this year for the memorial to be added to the local calendar.

(The US bishops will nationally follow suit, with a vote to add the observance to the national ordo at next month's Baltimore plenary.)

Featuring the long-scheduled dedication of a new seminary in the capital dedicated to the novus Beatus, DC's Wojtyla feast already had the makings of something big. It got bigger still, though, at Roman Noon on the day, as the Holy See fittingly rolled out B16's first major appointments to next year's Synod of Bishops on one of John Paul's pet projects -- namely, the New Evangelization -- with Wuerl being named to the gathering's all-important post of Relator-General, a task roughly equivalent to the Synod's chief "spokesman."

Responsible for articulating the Synod's goals and vision in a major address (traditionally delivered in Latin) on opening day, then pooling the results of its discussions for the October meeting's final message -- and, in time, its closing papal document -- the 70 year-old cardinal joins an elite group of top-shelf prelates who've served as Relator at the prior four Synods of Benedict XVI's pontificate:

• In 2005, Cardinal Angelo Scola, then Patriarch of Venice, was tapped for the slot at that autumn's Synod on the Eucharist; last June, the Pope "elevated" his longtime protege to the archbishopric of Milan, Europe's largest diocese;

• Then the archbishop of Quebec, Cardinal Marc Ouellet was named Relator of the 2008 Synod on the Word of God; last year, Benedict returned the Canadian to Rome as the first-ever North American to serve as prefect of the all-powerful Congregation for Bishops;

• Then the lone Scripture scholar in the Pope's "Senate" -- at least, its electoral part -- the Ghanaian Cardinal Peter Turkson's stock as a "papabile" spiked when he was appointed spokesman for 2009's Second Synod for Africa, which Benedict will formally wrap up next month on his second trip to the continent. At the gathering's close, however, the US-trained dynamo's standing only rose further as the pontiff called Turkson to the Vatican as president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. (In his Curial post, the cardinal was the lead mover behind the crafting and release of this morning's text on global market reform.)

...see a trend here?

Of course, whether it'll hold true in Wuerl's case is anybody's guess. Regardless, the main takeaway is that the Relator's nod has consistently gone to prelates who clearly rank very high in the pontiff's esteem, and whom he's ostensibly singling out for a major turn on the church's global stage. In the case of the famously-diligent, hyper-efficient Washington cardinal, however, the pick likewise indicates that, for this Synod, Benedict wants everything done right.

At the same time, the appointment plays well to what's become one of the cardinal's strong suits. Long a master of catechesis as host of his own TV show during his days as bishop of his native Pittsburgh, then the guiding force behind a national Catholic Catechism for Adults, Wuerl has recently turned his focus toward the New Evangelization, penning a Pastoral Letter on the faith's "reproposal" just prior to his elevation to the College of Cardinals last fall and making the topic a centerpiece of his talks, like this one to a March crowd at the capital's Catholic University of America:


To be sure, Wuerl is no stranger to Rome -- already a veteran of four prior Synods, the DC prelate was a student-priest at the Angelicum before essentially running the Congregation for the Clergy through the late 1970s as priest-secretary to his ailing mentor, Cardinal John Wright.

More recently, the cardinal's latest call to the Aula is the second major ongoing task given him by the Holy See on top of his duties in the District.

By appointment of the CDF, Wuerl has spent the last year as the Stateside delegate for the implementation of Anglicanorum coetibus -- an intense national undertaking all its own -- most recently receiving some 60 former Anglicans into the Catholic fold in Washington earlier this month.

While the cardinal had indicated in a June report that a domestic jurisdiction for the journeying groups was to be erected "this fall," in a recent interview while on tour in Scotland, he said he was "still hopeful that, before this year is out, a US ordinariate will be established."

Wuerl will again brief the bench on Anglicanorum's progress during the Baltimore plenary.

The DC red-hat is the second American hierarch in recent times to be named Relator-General of a global Synod. In 2001, New York's Cardinal Edward Egan was tapped for the post as the body met to discuss the ministry of bishops.

The now-retired canonist's turn at the rostrum was cut short, however, given Egan's need to be home in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.

PHOTOS: Reuters(1,3); Getty(2)

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For Bishop Barry, a Family Affair

Clearly, freshly-mitred DC auxiliary Barry Knestout is more used to being the bishop's secretary than the bishop, himself.

Yet even while the bench's newest member adjusts to life with the crozier-crook facing outward, his St Matthew's Cathedral ordination yesterday was one for the books:

In remarks after Communion, Bishop Knestout, who is 46, thanked his family for their love and support, and he especially thanked his parents for their example. His father, Deacon Thomas Knestout, died in 1997, and the new bishop's mother, Caroline, is a retired nurse and attends daily Mass.

Addressing his mother, the new bishop said, "You and Dad have given your children the most precious gift you could give: faith, and that continues to bear fruit."

In his opening remarks, Archbishop Wuerl also thanked the new bishop's family, saying, "As this is a joy for you, it is a joy for us."

The new bishop's family of faith in the Archdiocese of Washington greeted him warmly with applause during the Mass, after he had processed through the cathedral giving them a blessing, and after his remarks. The 1,200 guests at the episcopal ordination included parishioners from St. Pius X, his home parish; from St. John the Evangelist in Silver Spring, where he served as pastor; from the Church of the Annunciation in Washington where he now is in residence; and from many other parishes, including St. Bartholomew in Bethesda and St. Peter in Waldorf, where he served as an associate pastor in his early years as a priest.

Serving as co-consecrators at the Mass were Washington Auxiliary Bishops Francisco Gonzalez and Martin Holley. Eighteen bishops participated in the ordination, including Baltimore Archbishop Edwin O'Brien and Arlington Bishop Paul Loverde, the spiritual leaders of the two neighboring dioceses. Several other participating bishops had special connections to Washington, including retired Auxiliary Bishop Leonard Olivier; Bishop William Lori of Bridgeport, Conn., who worked closely with the new bishop when both served the late Cardinal James Hickey; retired Bishop David Foley of Birmingham, Ala., a Chevy Chase native and formerly a longtime priest and administrator in Washington.

Four cardinals also participated in the episcopal ordination, including Cardinal William Baum, Washington's archbishop from 1973-80 who confirmed the future bishop; and Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, the archbishop emeritus of Washington whom the new bishop had earlier served as a priest secretary. Boston Cardinal Sean O'Malley, a Capuchin Franciscan priest who earlier led the Spanish Catholic Center in Washington, also participated; as did Cardinal William Keeler, the archbishop emeritus of Washington. About 170 priests, 40 deacons and dozens of women and men religious also attended the Mass.

In his homily, Archbishop Wuerl noted that the second reading from St. Paul's letter to the Ephesians "reminded us that Christ is our Hope," and he pointed out that Bishop Knestout had chosen "Christ Our Hope" as his episcopal motto. That was the theme of Pope Benedict XVI's April visit to the United States, and then-Msgr. Barry Knestout, who served as co-chair of the Papal Visit Committee in Washington.

"As Pope Benedict XVI taught us in his encyclical, Spe Salvi, and as he repeated here in our archdiocese at the Mass at Nationals Park on April 17, 'the one who has hope lives differently. The one who has hope has new life,'" Archbishop Wuerl said in his homily. The archbishop later added, "May you show that joy of ministry that clearly radiated from the face of Pope Benedict throughout his time here in this nation and our archdiocese. While we still have much to do, we live in hope because we know and rejoice in the wisdom that Christ has already overcome the world."

In his remarks after Communion, Bishop Knestout asked people to pray for him "that I might be an effective instrument of His faith, His joy and His hope... May God be in our hearts and give us the joy and hope of Christ this Christmas time and always."

Archbishop Wuerl in his homily encouraged the new bishop to follow the apostles' mission of bringing the "saving power of Christ into this world" by teaching the faith. "Your first responsibility is that of teacher,"the archhbishop said....

Eight members of the new bishop's family brought up the offertory gifts at the Mass, including his mother, two brothers, two sisters and a niece and two nephews.

In his homily, Archbishop Wuerl noted that the crosier "is a sign of your responsibility to keep watch over the whole flock so that some day when our waiting in joyful hope is complete you may be able to present to Christ those with whom you have journeyed as shepherd and teacher."

Archbishop Wuerl noted the example of St. Thomas Becket, the martyred archbishop of Canterbury. "To serve the Church is to serve Christ -- proclaim the Gospel and guide God's holy people, because to give yourself to the Church is to give yourself to Christ," he said.

Noting the bishop's role "to teach, to lead and to sanctify," the archbishop said, "As you face the challenges of episcopal service, we pray that you will always be sustained by God's grace."

The first of Uncle Ted's "alums" elevated to the episcopacy, Knestout is but the third son of the capital to serve as a bishop in its local church.

The first was the "Lion of New Orleans" Philip Hannan -- the eulogist at JFK's funeral in the very same DC cathedral, who remains well and kickin' at 95, in his 53rd year as a successor of the Apostles. A decade following his 1965 promotion to the Crescent City, the TV-producing prelate and World War II chaplain was followed by the well-loved Bishop Thomas Lyons -- a Northwest native who died in 1988 aged 64.

In other District news, Wuerl spent part of his Christmas visiting a parishioner shockingly beaten with a baseball bat in his church's parking lot before Midnight Mass.

PHOTO: Rafael Crisostomo/The Catholic Standard

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The Don on Dialogue

The first reflected glare of next week's visit will, of course, go to Pope Benedict's first Stateside host -- and most-prominent US appointee to date -- Archbishop Donald Wuerl of Washington.

In case anyone didn't already know, the 66 year-old "education bishop" -- whose own catechism was once the global church's second biggest-seller after the Universal One -- has been practically aglow since his November birthday coincided with the PopeTrip's official announcement. But just days before welcoming a pontiff to the capital for the first time in three decades, it wasn't his anticipation that led the archbishop made a quick trip to Rome late last week; Wuerl headed over to deliver a long-planned lecture commitment at his alma mater, the Angelicum, on transreligious relations and the shared project for peace.

Given its length, the fulltext of the talk -- the first annual Pope John Paul II Lecture on Interreligious Understanding -- has been put into a stand-alone post (albeit one with an archived date to keep reader complaints on main-page scrolling at a minimum).

As the visit's main interfaith event will be taking place in DC, those keen on nabbing a possible preview or two might find Wuerl's insights well worth a look.

* * *

On a protocol/minutiae side-note, though Andrews AFB -- the site of the papal touchdown, located in suburban Maryland's Prince George's County -- falls within the boundaries of the archdiocese of Washington, as a military installation the base itself ecclesiastically belongs to the archdiocese for the Military Services USA.

Ergo, it won't be Wuerl, but the newly-installed Archbishop Timothy Broglio who, as Prelate of the Forces (and ordinary of the tarmac), gets first dibs on welcoming B16 onto American soil.

SVILUPPO: Speaking of the 11th bishop of Pittsburgh, yesterday's Post-Gazette featured Ann Rodgers' look at Before Dallas -- the newly-released canonical treatise on clergy sex-abuse from the former chair of the USCCB's national lay review board, Duquesne Law Dean-emeritus Nick Cafardi.

No bishop should have been shocked that priests could commit such crimes. Cases had been documented for centuries, [Cafardi said. One famous 11th-century cardinal, considered a father of canon law, wrote rules to deal with pedophile clerics.

"He said that they should be deprived of their tonsure, locked up for six months on bread and water and never left alone with a young person again," he said.

The 1917 code of canon law gave bishops authority to remove such priests without a church trial. But the 1983 code, in an effort to curb the arbitrary power of bishops, took away that power, he said. And because no such trials had been held within living memory, canon lawyers didn't know how to conduct them. They also believed they couldn't win, for reasons that included a short statute of limitations and a "catch-22" that forbade disciplining priests who offended due to mental illness.

The bishops were further stymied by a change that Pope John Paul II made in 1979, when he tried to stem a tide of priests who were leaving to marry. He made it impossible to laicize a priest against his will....

[E]ven when they knew they had the power, bishops rarely permanently removed offending priests, he said. Decades ago they treated sexual abuse as a spiritual problem, sent the offender on retreat and accepted promises not to sin again. Later, when sexual abuse was understood to be a psychological illness, they sent the priests for therapy and too readily accepted the treatment centers' claims of cure, he said.

But he cites bishops who were exceptions to that, including former Pittsburgh Bishop Donald Wuerl, now archbishop of Washington, D.C., to whom the book is dedicated. He recounts the bishop's 1993 battle with the Vatican's highest court, which he eventually persuaded to reverse a ruling that had ordered him to return to ministry an accused priest who the bishop was sure was guilty.

That case "both scared and paralyzed the other bishops. They felt that if Rome would not support them in the removal of abusive priests from ministry, what was the point of doing it?" Dr. Cafardi said.

Archbishop Wuerl "was, to the best of my knowledge, the only one who actually appealed a [Vatican] decision returning an allegedly abusive priest to ministry. He does stand out. He took on the Roman canonical system and said they had got it wrong. That took a lot of courage."

By the time the Boston scandal made national headlines in 2002, many Americans had forgotten the extensive news media coverage of the issue from 1985 to 1994. It had ended after CNN gave lurid publicity to an accusation against then-Cardinal Joseph Bernardin of Chicago, only to have the alleged victim recant and apologize. Afraid of getting scammed again, many media backed off, he said.

It was bad timing, because a committee the bishops had appointed to address the topic was producing good proposals that would have prevented many future problems, he said. With the pressure off, their ideas remained mere suggestions until the 2002 meeting in Dallas, he said....

His biggest concern is that something like the false Bernardin accusation will deflect attention from the problem again, or that the bishops will become complacent and stop the outside audits of their dioceses on abuse prevention and response.

"I remain concerned, because the only way this problem even began to be solved was that the bishops, as a group, had their feet held to the fire," he said.

PHOTO: AP/Steve Ruark

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A Prayer for the Mayor

SVILUPPO: Mayor Bob O'Connor died at 8.55 tonight local time. A statement was released by Archbishop Donald Wuerl of Washington, a Pittsburgh native and its former bishop.

At this hour, the other edge of our fair Commonwealth is experiencing an eerie limbo as the health of Mayor Bob O'Connor of Pittsburgh has taken a turn for the worse.

O'Connor, 61, who just took the reins of Pennsylvania's second city in January, was diagnosed in late June with central nervous system lymphoma, a rare form of brain cancer. He has been hospitalized since July 10, and in recent weeks handed his powers to a deputy mayor in light of complications from multiple surgeries and setbacks -- but not before ending a power struggle in his administration by firing three top aides from his hospital bed and having them escorted out of Pittsburgh's City-County Building within minutes. O'Connor was taken off life support last night, and the official word is that his endurance is an "hour-by-hour" matter.

If O'Connor indeed slips away, the mayoralty will fall to the 26 year-old City Council President, Luke Ravenstahl, who with other top city officials attended a midday Mass and subsequent ecumenical prayer service held for the stricken leader, a devout Catholic.

The daily noon Mass at St. Mary was dedicated to the mayor today, followed by an interfaith prayer service hastily arranged by the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh. Mr. Ravenstahl, Councilman Jim Motznik, Allegheny County Sheriff Pete DeFazio, State Sen. Jay Costa, Jr., acting city Controller Tony Pokora, Deputy Mayor Yarone Zober and other city and county officials were among the 150 who filled the church.

Pastor Donald Green of Christian Associates of Southwestern Pennsylvania called Mr. O'Connor "a witness who has cheered on family and friends and indeed a whole city" and saw his destiny as a place "where there is no more pain or sorrow."

And in reference to his heir apparent, Mr. Ravenstahl, Green said, "For your sake we will cheer him on."

Rabbi James Gibson of Temple Sinai said, "We know that sometimes we can leave this world whole and healed, even if we are not cured."

And Bishop Paul Bradley, administrator of the Catholic diocese, read the Beatitudes, which famously begin in the Matthew version, "Blessed are the poor in spirit."

Bishop Bradley praised Mr. O'Connor as "a good man, an honest man, a man of faith, a man who has used the Beatitudes as the standard to guide his own life."

Diocesan spokesman the Rev. Ron Lengwin said former Pittsburgh bishop Donald Wuerl, now the archbishop of Washington, D.C., was being kept informed of the mayor's condition and was hoping to return to Pittsburgh should a funeral be necessary and should his schedule permit it.

In a separate statement, Wuerl said that "This is a time of very real prayer. Mayor Bob O'Connor is such a good man, means so much to the City of Pittsburgh and to his friends that we're all praying for him.

“We're simply asking the Lord to be with him and his family, his wife Judy and his kids, for the whole family and for Bob,” Wuerl added. “We're offering our prayers, we're with him in spirit. We're with him in a great deal of love."

In one of his last official engagements before his condition became known, Mayor O'Connor attended Archbishop Wuerl's June installation in Washington; then-Bishop Wuerl ordained Terence O'Connor, the mayor's son, to the priesthood for the diocese of Pittsburgh in 2001. Fr Terry has proven himself a popular parochial vicar in his assignments, and he's got a notable vocation story.

Keep the O'Connors in your thoughts.


PHOTO: Steve Mellon/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

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