BishopAccountability.org
	The Press Comes for the Archbishop And Jerome Listecki Wins the Day Hands-Down. By Erik Gunn Milwaukee Magazine March 10, 2010 http://www.milwaukeemagazine.com/pressroombuzz/?utm_source=murphyslaw&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=weeklyemail MILWAUKEE (WI) -- When was the last time a new arrival to Milwaukee landed amid such negative press? Newly installed Archbishop Jerome Listecki might have been alluding to stories like this when he joked Tuesday to a Milwaukee Press Club crowd that when people tell him they pray for him daily, "it may have to do with the press." He needn't have worried. Listecki, a "Newsmaker Luncheon" guest, was politely grilled by three reporters and emerged unscathed. Deftly sidestepping some of the most contentious questions, the new archbishop left no ambiguity about his fealty to church orthodoxy on matters ranging from the politics of abortion to the deference of Catholic academic institutions to church hierarchy. The three reporters quizzing him did a workmanlike job, asking reasonably challenging questions while maintaining a respectful tone. For his part, Listecki parried their queries by reframing the subject to his advantage. In short, he reinforced an early impression: This is a guy who knows how to work the news media. Well-spoken, charming, urban without being urbane, Listecki from his opening remarks wielded considerable political skill and native charm. "I do not attribute myself to be a newsmaker," said the new archbishop, who turns 61 years old on Friday. "I'm a kid from the South Side of Chicago, which, as you know, is a far south suburb of Milwaukee." Journal Sentinel religion reporter Anyssa Johnson opened by asking whether the Catholic Church's membership losses — enrollment in the Archdiocese fell by 38,000 last year — represented the cost of becoming a "small tent, but more ideologically homogeneous." Listecki, instead, pivoted from the premise of her question to a critique of contemporary culture. "A lot of it has to do with the change of climate in our society," he said of the drop in numbers. "Individuals are becoming more secular." And with that a question about the growing rigidity of the church on some of its teachings became a lesson in Listecki's view of the Constitution. The First Amendment bars the establishment of religion, the archbishop, who holds a law degree from DePaul University, acknowledged, but he countered, "There is a religion being established — the religion of secularism." The outspokenness of the church, he suggested, is simply an assertive response to that trend. Listecki went on to defend the church's historic diversity — cast innocuously in the variety of styles among different orders (intellectual Jesuits, poverty-embracing Franciscans, liturgically focused Benedictines). Addressing a question from Channel 12 reporter Nick Bohr, Listecki declined to rule out the possibility of bankruptcy reorganization — a prospect first floated by his predecessor Timothy Dolan. At the same time, he downplayed its likelihood and rendered it as an abstraction — as if to imply that, if it occurred at all, it would be an inevitable, impersonal act of nature, or perhaps of God: "If confronted with a situation such as bankruptcy, we will address that, but always ... trying to go forward to achieve the mission." When WTMJ-AM 620 news director John Byman asked whether the archbishop would deny communion to Catholic lawmakers who voted pro-choice, as some of his colleagues have, Listecki responded as he has before: shying away without ruling it out. "Each of those situations has to be considered on an individual basis," he told Byman. He allowed that he didn't like the idea; "the Eucharist itself," he said, by helping to establish the recipient's relationship with God, offered "the cure" to erroneous beliefs and interpretations. Instead, though, he suggested, as bishop he should be "not only a teacher, but a pastor, and come to know the heart of that individual" in a dialogue. Still, he was unwilling to categorically deny the option and acknowledged the possibility of an "obstinate" individual "not caring about the slander that they would give to Catholics" by adhering to positions contrary to church teachings who might thus "force my hand to do that." So then, asked Johnson, would he seek a dialogue with pro-choice, Catholic, gubernatorial candidate Tom Barrett and, "if he doesn't change his position, he's potentially slandering the church? Is that what you're saying?" "No," Listecki replied. "I'm saying whether or not" — he interrupted himself and started again — "There's all sorts of aspects to being pro-choice." Dialogue can help glean the nuances of the other person's position, he said. "Individuals may be pro-choice, looking to limit abortions." The archbishop also reiterated his refusal to meet with SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, long a harsh critic of the Catholic Church's handling of clerical abuse allegations. Listecki suggested SNAP has engaged in "a politicalization" of the abuse scandal. "I am concerned about healing," he said, indicating that he did not believe that of SNAP. He also reasserted that the University of Notre Dame erred in inviting as a speaker President Barack Obama — whose pro-choice positions made that action the subject of criticism on the part of some Catholic commentators — without consulting the local church hierarchy. Does that mean, Johnson asked, that faculty at Catholic institutions who have criticized the church might find their voices stilled? "I respect academic freedom in the classroom," Listecki said. "But I also have freedom. If a teacher attacks the church, I will be there to defend it." In the end, as Johnson noted in her account of the event, Listecki broke no new ground. But he didn't have to: It was enough to seize the high ground, and that's what the new archbishop did. Comment below, or write Pressroom at pressroom@milwaukeemagazine.com
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.