The April (newspaper) issue of The Catholic Courier quotes Bishop Clark from the homily he gave to hundreds of teens receiving the Hands of Christ Award, and their parents:
“Reflecting on the seniors and the changes in store for them makes Bishop Clark mindful of the changes coming up in his own life, he said. When he turns 75 this July he will be required to submit his resignation to Pope Benedict XVI, who will appoint a new bishop, most likely within 10 to 15 months, the bishop explained. ‘This year when you start off to college or the work force or the military, around the same time I’ll be transitioning in my own life,’ Bishop Clark said. ‘I will be walking with you, very literally, in transition as I await my successor, to be named probably close to the end of your first year of whatever you’ll be doing.'”
Fascinating commentary, isn’t it? It is interesting that the Bishop didn’t say “up to 15 months,” leaving the minimum open. Rather, he is mentioning a minimum time of 10 months! A minimum! That places the arrival of his successor on May 15, 2013 at the earliest; i.e. 304 more days than we thought. Pray to endure! Meanwhile, we can speculate on whether Bishop Clark has assurance from the Vatican? Is he just using average replacement time for other bishops? Or is he flaunting a position to dissuade replacement for a while? One thing that could be done is to circle or highlight his words, mail the page to the Dicastery of Bishops and say “HELP! Please send us a good, faithful bishop on July 16, 2012!” Or send it to Pope Benedict. Remember, it was just such mailings from hundreds of Rochester Catholics of Mary Ramerman’s front page (D&C) elevating the Sacred Body and Blood that finally got Vatican pressure on the Diocese to do something about Fr. Callan. One might suspect that the Congregation for Bishops won’t like the presumptuousness of a sitting Bishop dictating the time until his replacement will arrive. It is worth a try.
Rumors are that Bishop Clark will also be starting a Capital Campaign soon. Does anyone know if that is standard practice for lame duck bishops? Why wouldn’t donors want to wait to find out what is important to the new bishop, and donate to a capital campaign which he might launch? Why would a capital campaign be needed (if indeed one is planned?) What has happened to all the capital from closing churches, from their savings and from selling their properties? Just a few thoughts for the end times.
Tags: Bishop Clark
|
He refused to allow the Tridentine Latin Mass (it was too divisive; no interest..yada…yada). So we presented him with 1,000 names on the petition (per his request)…still nothing…finally we got in touch with the Ecclesia Dei Commmision, who made a phone call to the Bishop. All the doors that were previously shut, flung open.
Bishop Clark announced St. Ann School, Hornell, will close after 149 years of service to western Steuben County. One is strained to believe the Courier’s claim that “This decision was painful for all concerned, but was based on an honest assessment of enrollment and cost projections, and the effect those factors might have on the financial health of the parish going forward.” It’s the same double talk as for St. Michael in Newark. Since when does “the financial health of the parish” take precedence over the souls of children? God help us!
My Brother is a priest in the Diocese of New York. His Vicar is a priest from Africa. His uncle is on or works for the Dicastery of Bishops. He mentioned that a Bishop for Rochester has already been selected. I am confident and hopeful my information is correct. Unfortunately The Vicar realized my Brother was from Rochester before he gave up a name.
Hennepin, might you ask your brother to ask the Vicar if the next Bishop of Rochester’s name rhymes with Schmarchbishop Schmoseph Schmerry?
Hennepin – I have heard the same thing. Maybe wishful thinking. Would be nice if you could fill us in on my details about the selection, even if you can’t tell us his name.
How badly I want to reopen Perry Watch.
Hennepin, might you ask your brother to ask the Vicar if the next Bishop of Rochester’s name rhymes with Schmarchbishop Schmoseph Schmerry?
After you might ask if there is a plan that rhymes with Schmerge Schmiocese Schmith Schmuffalo.
P.S. It’s official. I’m moving to Buffalo in a matter of months.
Buffalo’s bishop turned 75 last June and no one appointed yet.
There is a big battle in Buffalo over who should and wants to be named bishop. Another battle is some priests and a monsignor think they should be made bishops.
Here is an interesting speculation. Combine the dioceses of Rochester and Buffalo into an Archdiocese with Buffalo as the primal See and Rochester as a suffragan diocese (or vice versa). That way we get an Archbishop and at least two suffragan bishops. In any case I pray for an orthodox and holy bishop.
I also was at an event earlier this month at which His Excellency was assuring people that he expected to be around for another 18 months.
I know that Rome is notoriously slow about accepting bishops’ resignations, but in this case I can’t help hoping that the long…..LONG……L-O-N-G tenure (upwards of three decades!) of our current bishop will be a mitigating factor.
Perhaps in addition to the current countdown of days, the site should also post an advancing clock to emphasize the unusual length of this episcopacy, for example:
32 Years … 8 months … 25 days ……..and counting!!
splendid!
congrats!
Forgive me. A new Capital campaign, and all the rumers about missing money. Pray God, where would this new money go?
Indeed. Channeling my inner paranoid, it sounds like the shenanigans the sisters running Loretto High School in CA pulled a few years back. This was the school where a student blew the whistle on a school employee moonlighting for Planned Parenthood and the bishop stepped in and ordered the school to fire her. The sisters retaliated by expelling the student. Later he school fell on financial hard times and sagging enrollment, ask for donations to save the school, then closed, sold the school outside of diocesan channels, and skeedaddled with the money into retirement.
Scott – Was this the Loretto High School in Sacramento or LA? I would, if possible, like to read more about this. Makes my blood boil.
Choir, it was Sacramento. I had a blog entry about it here: Forgotten Abortion Battles: Katelyn Sills and Loretto High School I try to keep this episode in memory because it is a textbook case of how dissenters operate and the vitriol piled on the (at the time) 16-year old Katelyn by her teachers, classmates, and every misanthrope to crawl out from under a rock was astounding and a reminder of the cost of discipleship.