He received praise from Boston College professor of theology Thomas Groome who said the Cardinal held offending priests accountable and cared for the victims of sexual abuse. Eric MacLeish, a local attorney who represented victims from the Fall River area spoke highly of Cardinal O'Malley's tenure in that particular archdiocese saying, “He met with all my clients. He did the right thing.”
The Cardinal was not without his critics, however. President of BishopAccountablity.org Terrance McKiernan described O'Malley as “a fixer” but not an innovator and noted a certain lack of transparency. McKiernan added that O'Malley's record was not horrible but “he could have done so much more.”
The article stated when Cardinal O'Malley first arrived in Boston, the Archdiocese had a $15 million deficit and owed another $32 million to the Knights of Columbus for a loan that was used to settle lawsuits. About $170 million was paid directly to victims and at the close of 2023 a total of $32 million had been spent on counseling and medication for them. Today, the Boston Archdiocese is in the black but the offertory and tuition at Catholic schools remain flat.
Cardinal Sean (who turns 80 in June of this year) explained that he would likely depart from his post sooner rather than later but he had no knowledge of a timeline or a replacement. He acknowledged the Church's response to the sex scandal was too focused on protecting its reputation and financial standing but boasted, “What we have done to address the sexual abuse crisis here is better than what anyone else has done.”
The Cardinal briefly touched upon his record of church closures stating that “perhaps we could have done better.” Not mentioned in the article was the 11 year vigil at Frances Xavier Cabrini Church in Scituate, MA that regularly made headlines in the local news. Cardinal O'Malley admitted more closures in the next 5 years “was a possibility but that it would very much depend on the needs and decisions of the local community.” I found that statement to be very ominous. With church attendance continuing to decline, I've felt many parishes are on borrowed time. After 5 years, will their time be up?
The article revealed some sobering facts. When Cardinal O'Malley was first appointed to the Archdiocese of Boston in 2003, weekly church attendance was 316,000. In 2019, it fell to 201,000 and in 2022 it was 127,000. A spokesperson for the Archdiocese explained that latest decline away by blaming Covid since many parishes were still returning to normal. I find that explanation to be pretty far-fetched. In 2003, there were 357 parishes compared to 249 in 2024. In 2003, there were 160 Catholic schools in the Archdiocese with enrollment at 55,000 students. Today that number had dwindled to 92 schools with enrollment at 32,000. If we look at these numbers, you could say Cardinal O'Malley failed to keep his eye on the ball and his record of growing the faith in the Boston Archdiocese was dismal.
All these declines occurred despite the Church spending a considerable amount of time and effort on promoting priestly vocations, the “New Evangelization” and the Catholics Come Home campaign among others. Perhaps we needed a leader who wasn't meek and humble but dynamic and bold. My personal impression of the Cardinal was one of cluelessness. I reached out to him as a struggling Catholic single (See the blog entry: A Letter to the Cardinal) but he failed to understand not only my plight but the big picture of the Catholic singles crisis and how it's directly related to those falling Church statistics (See the blog entry: A Letter From the Cardinal). It's not surprising though since he was ordained as a priest at age 19, became a bishop at 39 and installed as Cardinal at 61. The priestly way of life seems to be all he's ever known while at age 19 my thoughts were largely focused on getting a girlfriend.
I won't be sorry when Cardinal O'Malley finally steps down. My only hope is that his replacement listens to all the lost sheep of the Archdiocese instead of jet-setting to Rome or other exotic locales every month.
No comments:
Post a Comment