Pope Francis is pressing his campaign to remake the U.S. church more in his likeness, tapping one of his new cardinals, Joseph Tobin, to replace the Newark archbishop criticized for mishandling sex-abuse cases and spending lavishly on his retirement home.
The Vatican on Monday announced Tobin would replace Archbishop John Myers, who reached the mandatory retirement age of 75 in July.
Tobin, currently archbishop of Indianapolis, is one of three Americans whom Francis will formally elevate as cardinals on Nov. 19.
His new assignment marks a transition away from an archbishop focused on drawing hard lines about Catholic orthodoxy. The leadership change also provides a fresh start for an archdiocese that has been battered by controversies.
Three years ago, Myers faced allegations that he failed to stop an abusive priest from attending youth retreats, despite the priest’s agreement with prosecutors that he would stay away from children.
Myers also came under fire when The Star-Ledger newspaper of New Jersey reported the archdiocese was spending about $500,000 to build a more than 3,000-square-foot (280-square-meter) addition to the New Jersey retirement home. The extension included a fifth bedroom, three fireplaces and an indoor exercise pool.
Myers defended the expense by saying he needed an office and wanted more privacy for visiting bishops.
Last year, Myers fired a gay priest as chaplain at Seton Hall University because the priest expressed support on social media for an anti-bullying campaign that aimed to protect gays and lesbians. In August, Myers barred the priest completely from public ministry over his support for LGBT rights groups and a Catholic high school counselor who was fired for marrying a woman.
Francis had appointed a different successor to Myers three years ago amid allegations he failed to stop an abusive priest, Rev. Michael Fugee, from attending youth retreats. But in March, the pope moved the chosen successor, Archbishop Bernard Hebda, to Minnesota, to lead to the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, which was itself in turmoil over revelations of mishandled cases of clergy sexual misconduct and the resignation of Archbishop John Nienstedt.
Myers’ spokesman has defended the archbishop’s record on child protection, saying he had removed more than a dozen abusive clergy from ministry. But advocates for victims pointed to cases in Myers’ previous assignment, as bishop in Peoria, Illinois. When Myers left that post in 2001, his successor quickly removed several priests who had been accused of molesting children. Myers had said he didn’t know of the allegations against the clergymen, but Peoria church officials said the first allegations against one of the priests had been made in 1993, three years into Myers’ tenure in that diocese.
Tobin made a name for himself in the Vatican as the former No. 2 at the Holy See’s office for religious orders, where he made a point of reaching out to U.S. nuns who were the subject of two separate Vatican investigations. The investigations, including one by the doctrine office, ended with the Vatican praising the sisters for their work with the poor and disenfranchised. More recently, Tobin openly opposed the position of the state’s governor, Mike Pence, now the Republican vice-presidential candidate, who wanted to prevent Syrian refugees from settling in the state.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
Francis has already begun to change the U.S. Catholic Church. I personally know of many people who have self-expelled. Myself included. I was for years hoping to see the church deal in a straight forward manner with pedophile priests etc. and they have not. Now with Francis we are to ignore the character of priests and focus on such things as welcoming our genocide by immigrants and global warming scams.
This day present Pope is an amoral liberal with socialistic leaning and rejects moral absolutes including catholic dogma. He promotes only social gospel or what we call liberation theology reject by Pope John Paul II. I wonder if he still believes in a Historical Christ Jesus, since he states that Christians and Muslims worship the same God.
Couldn’t agree with you more. This individual is a socialist/communist that will destroy the church, as we knew it.
Talking about corruption? The Vatican, is leading the race.
I became a Catholic 10 years ago when I married a Catholic. I personally really enjoy being Catholic as there is so much food available to the individual that is the world of God. I do not know how the Catholic Church addresses this observation that I have noticed with parishoners. They go to church on Sunday but do not follow the word of God the rest of the week. I am married to one and it is such a shame. This week I have a coat stolen. It looked like a fur coat but it was a fake. I still liked it and now it is gone. He goes to church every Sunday but does not follow the word of God. He is a Pew Sitter and knows it but just can’t seem to follow the word. when he was a young boy he went to Catholic school.
As much as I love the Catholic Faith there is something missing in the parishoners. We have been married 10 years. My husband thought he was dying a few years ago so he went to tell his siblings good bye. They didn’t care if he was dying but they asked him to divorce me because they wanted our house. It
is very sad situation. I was very sick once and I asked him to take me to the hospital. Finally I drove myself. I had 4 hours to live. My Doctor told me that I could never trust him to take care of me. I call him the pew sitter and he knows it and he knows what it means.
Just thought I would tell you.
Making way for the Anti-Christ to appear.
I was raised Catholic & attended Catholic grade school & high school. When the whole pedofilia situation came out I was horrified. I believe the church failed it’s followers by not handling it properly. The Pope said that Trump was not a Christian. I don’t think he has any right making a statement like that when he didn’t aggressively handle the churches pedofilia. I feel a Pope like him is not much of a Christian. Also, the Pope says we should all take care of the immigrants because it is a world problem. Well, why doesn’t the Pope open the Vatican’s gates & take in immigrants. The immigrants that hate Christians. How about tearing down the Vatican’s walls. I have a problem letting immigrants in that want to kill me.