Editorial: Are Archbishop Meyer's ears burning? Pope scolds 'obsessed' clergy

Newark Star-Ledger Editorial Board
September 19, 2013

One year ago, at the peak of the 2012 presidential election, Newark Archbishop John J. Myers issued a pastoral letter telling New Jersey Catholics they should base their vote on abortion and gay marriage.

He went on to write that those who cannot embrace his diktats on these issues — which include a majority of Catholics in America — should refrain from taking communion.

“To continue to receive Holy Communion while so dissenting would be objectively dishonest,” he wrote.

Yesterday, Pope Francis refuted that pinched and narrow view of Christ’s teachings, offering a fresh breath of tolerance and inclusion. In his first lengthy interview since taking office six months ago, the new pope said too many church officials have become “obsessed” with these issues at the expense of church teachings on poverty, peace and unconditional love of every human being. And he warned that following the path Myers has long encouraged will leave the church diminished.

“This church with which we should be thinking is the home of all, not a small chapel that can hold only a small group of selected people,” he said. “We must not reduce the bosom of the universal church to a nest protecting our mediocrity.”

The message is revolutionary. There is no change in church doctrine, no invitation to women to serve as priests, no change in Rome’s position on abortion, gay marriage or birth control. And Myers yesterday backpedaled as fast as he could, saying he was in full agreement with the pope.

But make no mistake: The pope is taking the side of dissident Catholics who want change, the kind of people who cheered the Nuns on the Bus, the group of nuns who toured the country during the 2012 campaign protesting cuts to programs that serve the poor, and promoting tolerance on social issues. It was a rebuke to men like Myers.

And it is encouraging to those who have called for Myers to resign over his serial failure to protect children from sexually abusive priests. Perhaps the new regime in Rome will take a harder line against that as well.

By now, anyone who has examined Myers’ history knows the pattern in painfully sharp relief: He heard a credible accusation against a priest. He hid that fact and protected the priest. He didn’t tell police. Even today, unlike many other bishops, he will not reveal the names of priests who have been credibly accused.

The latest flare-up came in August, when the parents of a boy who was abused by a priest under Myers’ supervision when Myers was bishop in Peoria, Ill., came to Newark to protest. Myers failed to act on complaints about the priest, who went on to abuse the child. In his deposition, Myers said the files containing the abuse allegations must have been misplaced. He knew nothing.

In April, an investigation by The Star-Ledger’s Mark Mueller revealed that Myers had allowed an abusive priest to attend youth retreats and take confessions from minors even after the diocese signed a binding agreement with Bergen County prosecutors promising to keep him away. This is a sickening pattern, and there are more examples.

But despite squandering his moral authority, Myers has resisted the many calls for his resignation.

Who knows? Perhaps this fresh air blowing from Rome will sweep him away before too long.