BISHOP MURPHY

I am not at all naive about the bishops but so far, I like our bishop, he has said some good things that this diocese needs to hear. We had terrible leadership from Bishop McGann for many years and Murphy is left with the mess, but being blamed for it as well. People forget that it was McGann that transferred pedophile priests from parish to parish. It was McGann who promoted dissident priests and child molesters while ignoring, persecuting or blackballing orthodox priests. McGann also invited Richard McBrien to speak to all the priests of the diocese which speaks volumes. McGann also wanted to shut down the Prolife Office of the diocese but was convinced the prolifers would “riot”. Instead, after many years he effectively shut the office by merging it with the Office of the Family. (Murphy recently reopened the prolife office). McGann did nothing to stop a local “Catholic” college from inviting a very prominent pro-choice person from speaking on campus. He promoted many people who were anything but orthodox and did not care that the seminary was a joke. My purpose here is not to condemn a dead man, but to make it clear that this diocese has many problems that are the result of bad, unorthodox leadership. Bishop Murphy, much more inclined to orthodoxy, although just as much a part of this “hapless bench of bishops”, is being blamed for all the things that McGann created and supported. He came here at a very rough time. Bishop Murphy was officially installed September 9th, 2001, and two days later 400 of his flock were murdered by Muslim fundamentalists. It is hard to describe what it was like here with funerals going on all the time, for neighbors, classmates and friends. Someday I will try to post about that. Shortly after that, the Church scandals broke in the secular press. Then, a Catholic priest and parishioner were shot to death at a Mass by a very sick man who neglected to take his medicines. When Bishop Murphy first arrived, he was quoted as saying that if the seminary here did not operate according to the dictates of the Catholic faith, it would be shut down. Strong words that I hope he meant, because even though the seminary has improved of late, shutting it down and sending our seminarians to better seminaries would be wonderful. He also called for a diocese synod which MAY be a good thing provided it is done correctly. He also made a statement that he wants to see the salaries of Catholic school teachers, particularly at the grammar school level go up by $10,000. This would make their salaries just, and still below the public school level. The salaries for teachers in Catholic grammar school are jokes. (My sister taught at a Catholic grammar school until she was able to get a public school job thanks to a kind and wonderfully professional nun who informed her of the opening). Murphy also allowed the traditional latin Mass to be held weekly rather than monthly, while McGann reluctantly allowed the Mass to be held twice a month in run down chapels. Murphy is also inclined to support the more orthodox priests, nuns, and laity, even inviting a group of Benedictine nuns from Africa to establish a convent here. Murphy invited Fr. Benedict Groeschel to speak to all the priests, which speaks volumes. I don’t know what Murphy did or did not do in Boston, but he has certainly gained my respect here on Long Island. With this type of attention to orthodoxy, this diocese could recover from the problems of the past, and I hope we do so soon.