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  Editorial: Ricken Seems Good Fit for Area Catholics

Press-Gazette
June 24, 2009

http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20090624/GPG0602/906240610/1269/GPG06

Green Bay Catholic Bishop David Ricken strikes us as someone who's comfortable with being a Catholic, unapologetic about the church's teachings and eager to cheerfully defend them against critics — all traits that should serve him in good stead as he meets the challenges ahead.

In his first visit with the Green Bay Press-Gazette editorial board Tuesday, Ricken seemed willing to answer any question tossed his way, although sometimes only to a certain degree.

How can he support the church's teachings that priests may not marry and women may not become priests, or its positions on abortion or birth control? Because they are the church's teachings.

"I can't imagine in my life as a priest having a wife and family, because they have to come first, and sometimes in church work, especially the priesthood, your parishioners have to come first," Ricken said.

And then other answers went further than one might expect, as when he said a state-issued driver card for illegal immigrants might be a good idea because they have to be able to get to work.

Asked about the presence of undocumented workers living in the area, Ricken defended ministering to people who are here while sharing the frustration of those who have worked hard to come to the United States as legal immigrants. He walks a fine line that people on either side of the issue may find hard to grasp.

We were impressed by his acknowledgment that the Catholic church was slow to come to terms with the scandals involving priests committing sexual abuse.

"You just don't think of priests and people in that sector of the population violating another person in this way," he said. "It was hard for me to understand, it was hard for the bishops to understand, so it took us time to really catch on to the seriousness of the problem."

Having met with some of the victims, Ricken added that healing and prevention must be priorities: "The pain that's caused by this kind of a violation and especially done by someone who's held in this type of a sacred trust, that pain is very severe, and it's hard to get over."

Ricken defended the St. John's Homeless Shelter as part of the church's mandated ministry, but he denied that the winter shelter will become a year-round facility.

"I think it has a defined mission to get people off the streets in the very cold months of winter," the bishop said. "It's not something we see as expanding in that sense at all."

The challenges facing the new bishop are many, especially in the area of education. He arrived as local Catholic schools struggled for survival, reorganizing under a single superintendent.

He talked about a de-emphasis on traditional catechism that has left one or two generations of Catholics unaware of what it means to be Catholic. That's an issue he will have to face head-on.

And on a lighter note, we smiled that the bishop doesn't seem threatened by what some critics have called the anti-Catholic themes in the film "Angels and Demons."

"As one Vatican official said, 'It's a story. Just remember it's a story,'" Ricken told us. "You're going to know there's some elements of truth and a lot of elements of fiction." As a murder mystery, he said, he liked the movie.

The new bishop's style seems a good fit for Northeastern Wisconsin, and Tuesday was a good introduction to his views on some general themes. We look forward to watching him tackle the challenge of being spiritual leader to the 350,000 diverse Catholics in the Green Bay diocese.

 
 

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