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  Bishop Hits Retirement Age

By Renee K. Gadoua
The Post-Standard [Syracuse NY]
July 1, 2007

http://www.syracuse.com/articles/news/index.ssf?/base/news-0/118328040456540.xml&coll=1

Syracuse Bishop James Moynihan, who turns 75 Friday, says he will continue working beyond retirement age if the pope asks him to do so.

Roman Catholic church law requires bishops submit to the Vatican an offer of retirement at 75.

After Moynihan underwent heart surgery in August, many had speculated he might retire early for health reasons.

Moynihan said he told the papal nuncio, the Vatican representative to the United States, that he feels healthy.

"Good," the papal nuncio replied, according to Moynihan.

"I would be happy to serve for as long as the Holy Father wishes," Moynihan said.

He said his priorities would be to complete the parish reorganization process that began this summer and continue raising money for Catholic schools.

He said his letter to the pope, which is private, is in the mail.

Moynihan was named the ninth bishop of the Syracuse Diocese in 1995.

He is among up to 25 U.S. Roman Catholic bishops at retirement age. Their successors will set the tone for an American church still emerging from the clergy sexual-abuse crisis, facing a priest shortage and dealing with issues including abortion and gay rights as a presidential election nears.

Moynihan's successor will join a 121-year-old diocese with its own challenges. More than 40 churches will close in the next few years, largely as a result of the clergy shortage. Twenty Catholic schools have closed since 1999. Despite Moynihan's emphasis on recruiting priests, the diocese will struggle to find enough priests to serve parishes in the next few years.

If Pope Benedict XVI accepts Moynihan's retirement, it's unclear how quickly he will name a successor.

In January, at least 14 U.S. bishops past retirement age, including three cardinals, were still active, Catholic News Service reported. Since then, several other bishops have turned 75.

Cardinal Edward M. Egan, of New York, turned 75 on April 2. A successor has not been named. His predecessor, Cardinal John O'Connor, turned 75 in 1995 and remained New York's Catholic leader until his death in 2000.

The bishops of Baltimore and Detroit are also over 75.

In May, the pope named Pittsburgh Bishop Donald Wuerl to succeed Archbishop Theodore McCarrick as spiritual leader of the Archdiocese of Washington. Wuerl's successor in Pittsburgh has not been named.

Last week, the pope named the Rev. Peter Christensen, of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, to succeed Bishop Raphael Fliss as bishop of Superior, Wis. Fliss turned 75 in October 2005.

Syracuse's Auxiliary Bishop Thomas J. Costello is 78. He is retired and still working.

The job description for a new bishop, known as the ordinary, is broad, said the Rev. Thomas Reese, a Jesuit priest and author of "Inside the Vatican."

"They want someone who's like St. Francis of Assisi with an MBA from Harvard, a cross between Jesus Christ and some management guru," he said.

"It's extremely rare that you get a bishop from your own diocese," he said. "The Vatican feels it's healthy to have someone come in fresh who isn't seen as being part of any faction in the diocese, who has no history."

The final decision comes from the pope, who may get advice from the retiring bishop, key bishops and the U.S. representative to the Vatican.

A Vatican committee of cardinals will review a list of three recommendations, Reese said.

"You rarely get a clone of the current bishop," Reese said.

Contact: Renee K. Gadoua rgadoua@syracuse.com or 470-2203

 
 

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