Pope Steps in, Phoenix Bishop Appointed As Temporary Head of Gallup Diocese, by Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola, Gallup Indepenent, January 4, 2008

Pope Steps in
Phoenix Bishop Appointed As Temporary Head of Gallup Diocese

By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
Gallup Indepenent
January 4, 2008

http://www.gallupindependent.com/2008/January/010408ehb_glpdcsbshpapntd.html

GALLUP — For Catholics in the Diocese of Gallup, the third day of the New Year brought a sweeping change in local church leadership.

The Most Rev. Thomas J. Olmsted, bishop of the Diocese of Phoenix, has been appointed apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Gallup by Pope Benedict XVI, and Gallup Bishop Donald E. Pelotte has been granted a one-year medical leave of absence.

Church officials said Olmsted has assumed Pelotte's duties on a temporary basis until Pelotte is able to return or until his successor is appointed and installed. Both dioceses issued similarly worded statements on Thursday morning, and Olmsted held a press conference at the Gallup chancery office later Thursday afternoon. According to the statement of the Gallup Diocese, the decisions were announced by the Papal Nuncio to the United States, Archbishop Pietro Sambi.

Most Rev. Thomas J. Olmsted prepares to take the podium at a news conference held to address his new role as the apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Gallup. Olmsted was placed in the position during Bishop Donald E. Pelotte one-year medical leave of absence. Olmsted is the Bishop of the Diocese of Phoenix and will maintain his role in the two locations by regular trips between the cities.
Photo by Daniel Zollinger

"I was not expecting one at all," Olmsted said of the call he received from the Papal Nuncio. "It was a total surprise to me." Although Olmsted admitted it would be difficult to run two dioceses, he was happy to do so.

Olmsted now has full authority as bishop of the Gallup Diocese, although the Rev. James Walker of Bloomfield will continue as vicar-general.

Bishop Olmsted

Gathering today

Gallup priests and local Catholics will have an immediate opportunity to meet Olmsted. According to Olmsted, priests from the diocese will gather today at Gallup's Sacred Heart Retreat Center, where Olmsted will celebrate Mass and meet with them. Olmsted said he will then remain in Gallup for the weekend so he can celebrate the Saturday 5:15 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. services at Sacred Heart Cathedral.

Olmsted said he plans to divide his time between the two dioceses each week. Although much of his 2008 calendar has already been scheduled with appointments, Olmsted said his goal is to spend most Thursdays and Fridays in the Diocese of Gallup and to be present at major functions in both dioceses. Deacon James Hoy, a Gallup chancery official and a licensed pilot, will most likely shuttle him between Phoenix and Gallup each week, Olmsted explained.

"Obviously, this cannot go on forever," Olmsted said concerning the length of his term as apostolic administrator. He said he believes a decision will be made — before or by a year — as to whether Pelotte's medical condition will allow him to return to his duties as bishop.

Olmsted referred questions about Pelotte to Deacon Timoteo Lujan, the chancellor for the diocese who discovered the severely injured Pelotte in his Gallup home on July 23.

"We've recognized it as a fall," Lujan said in response to a question about the circumstances of Pelotte's injuries. Diocesan officials have no reason to believe otherwise, he added. Pelotte is currently living in his Fort Lauderdale, Fla. home, Lujan said, and is undergoing a regular regime of therapy under a physician's care.

Helping with transition

Olmsted said he believes his role "is not to set a vision" for the Diocese of Gallup, but rather to help the diocese transition from the "present moment" to either Pelotte's return or to the installment of Pelotte's successor.

Because of his temporary role, Olmsted explained, he would probably not introduce any major changes into the Gallup Diocese as he has done since becoming the Phoenix bishop in December 2003.

According to media reports over the last four years, Olmsted has pleased conservative Catholics in Phoenix and upset liberal Catholics with his unwavering support of traditional church teachings. However, Olmsted's supporters and critics seem to agree that Olmsted is a man who places great emphasis on the importance of prayer, a subject Olmsted raised repeatedly in the news conference.

The primary purpose of the Church is to help people encounter the living Christ, he said, and he asked people to remember both Pelotte and himself in their prayers.

His first challenge in the Gallup Diocese, Olmsted said, would be to get to know the priests well. When asked how he might try to repair some of the acrimonious relationships Pelotte has had with a number of priests who have served under him, Olmsted said his role as bishop is to be both a father and a brother to his priests and to make himself available to them.

Olmsted said he was also looking forward to meeting many of the Native American Catholics in the Gallup Diocese. However, he explained, he believes that his childhood in rural Kansas and his four years of experience with the Diocese of Phoenix's large Native American and Hispanic populations have prepared him for working with Gallup's rural and multi-cultural communities.

Sex abuse allegations

When asked about his approach to dealing with clergy sex abuse allegations — in light of the recent civil lawsuit against the diocese by a Navajo man who claims a Franciscan priest sexually abused him in Shiprock in the mid-1980s, Olmsted said he had a three-step approach.

First, he said, he emphasizes the importance of law enforcement authorities being notified about the allegation. Secondly, Olmsted said, he tries to extend a pastoral response to the person making the allegation and to their family, and thirdly, he authorizes an investigation into the credibility of the allegation.

Although quiet-spoken and thoughtful, Olmsted appeared comfortable fielding questions during the news conference. His remarks were mostly of a serious nature, but Olmsted did find some occasion for humor.

Noting that he was now a bishop of two separate dioceses — with the Gallup Diocese straddling two separate states — Olmsted said his voting power as a member of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops had just doubled. "Well, I think I get two votes," he joked.

Olmsted was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Lincoln, Neb., in 1973. Prior to his appointment in Phoenix in 2003, he served as bishop of Wichita, Kan., after being ordained coadjutor bishop in 1999. Before serving in Wichita, he was the rector/president of the Pontifical College Josephinum, a Catholic seminary in Columbus, Ohio.

Olmsted previously lived in Rome where he obtained a master of arts in theology, a doctorate in canon law, and worked more than nine years in the secretariat of sate of the Holy See.

Reporter Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola can be contacted at ehardinburrola@yahoo.com or (505) 863-6811 ext. 218.