Bishop John M Smith – " Courage" or Coward?, Www.novozinsky.com, May 31, 2011

Bishop John M Smith – " Courage" or Coward?

Www.novozinsky.com
May 31, 2011

www.novozinsky.com

In early fall 2010 I made a promise to a young lady. That promise was brokered between me, the woman and a Monsignor in the Diocese of Newark, NJ and it entailed the depths of why the ninth Bishop of Trenton, John Mortimer Smith would retire in officially in early 2011 and not in the expected April to June timeframe. The issue was health and by no means scandal. That needs to be made crystal-clear in all fairness to the Bishop. I am bound to this agreement until February 2012 and I will respect that commitment.

The Bishop Emeritus of the Diocese should have respected those who defend him and kept as quiet as possible on Church matters because he really stepped into a public relations nightmare in his weekend interview with Erin Duffy of the Times of Trenton.

Duffy is a seasoned reporter that had a sit-down and friendly conversation with Smith who celebrates his 50th year as a priest.

John Smith is an engaging man with a tremendous sense of humor and a resoundingly contagious personality that makes people want to listen to him. Unfortunately when he picked his battles, he acted foolishly and then retreated.

The bishop reflected candidly on his life growing up in northern New Jersey, his doubts and accomplishments as well as his life with his family.

Then his stuck his foot in his mouth; here is the set up as Duffy writes:

"…Smith has also taken heat from clergy abuse organizations, who have pressed the diocese for greater transparency in addressing, abuse claims and identifying perpetrators. At a demonstration outside the diocese in March, members of the groups Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests and Road to Recovery criticized the diocese for failing to fully identify all accused priests or put their names online. In the interview, Smith hailed the "courage" of the Catholic Church to tackle the issue head-on as the church's sex abuse scandal grew. "I think the whole issue of child sex abuse by priests has been a very painful experience for any of us who are involved in the church but particularly for the clergy," he said. "We were embarrassed; we were ashamed we were hurt that this was going on in our midst. I'm thankful to God that the church in the United States had the courage to address it very directly."

And about what he does on a day-to-day basis; Smith quips: " (he) stops into his office in the diocese pastoral center on Route 206 in Lawrence to sift through his correspondence, what he calls his fan mail. "Many of them said they liked me, so that's the fun part," Smith said. "And it's awfully nice to be able to say, if there's a problem, it's not my problem anymore."

First off, the bishop never addressed the lead-in question of posting the names on-line of credible claims against diocese personnel but goes onto exclaim the 'courage' the Church has taken to "tackle the issue head-on." The bishop is delusional at worst; in denial at a lukewarm state or flat out lying to himself in hopes that others will buy-into the same tired line he retreaded over and over again. He also rubs it into the faces of those that were left to clean up his mess with his self-absolution of "it's not my problem anymore." It never was his problem.

From first hand dealing with the Diocese and the pastoral center specifically in the past 19 months, I can tell you that the frustration of those who answered to Bishop Smith was palpable and the second (then) Father David M. O'Connell was named co-adjutor the ducktape across the clerical mouths came off.

Case in point: In my long running efforts to have the reverend John Bambrick removed from my alma mater Saint Joseph parish and schools in Toms River, the Monsignor in charge of the case committed to come to Toms River and conduct an investigation first hand. This was based on over 500 emails, USPS mail, phone calls and petitions as to the direct violations conducted by Bambrick into the allocation of funds raised. Bishop Smith not only canceled the visit, he chastised the Monsignor for his "overstepping" of authority (though it was his job) and supported Bambrick when he blatantly refused to return calls from the monsignor.

Bishop Emeritus of Trenton, John Mortimer Smith celebrates 50 years as a priest and spent the last of those years as the vicar of Trenton. In retrospect he brought a somewhat renewed sense of spirituality to the 800,000 Catholics in the diocese but he failed in so many other regards. The faith in his successor is almost an act of panic by many before he leaves to a larger see or assignment. Smith is correct in his assessment that it is not his problem anymore – but when was it ever? When did he show courage?