Pope to Name Assistant to Newark Archbishop Myers, Stirring Speculation - See More At: Http://www.northjersey.com/community/report_michigan_cleric_to_help_embattled_newark_archbishop_myers.html#sthash.6odphyyb.dpuf

By Jeff Green
The Record
September 23, 2013

http://www.northjersey.com/community/Report_Michigan_cleric_to_help_embattled_Newark_Archbishop_Myers.html

Chris Pedota / Staff Photographer

In a move seen by some church experts as a rebuke of Archbishop John J. Myers for his handling of clergy sex-abuse claims, Pope Francis is expected to appoint a coadjutor archbishop Tuesday to help run the Newark Archdiocese.

Bishop Bernard A. Hebda of Gaylord, Mich., will be named coadjutor, according to the National Catholic Reporter, citing sources close to the process.

Jim Goodness, a spokesman for Myers, would not confirm or deny the report, but he said that Myers would make “an announcement of significance” at an 11 a.m. news conference at the archdiocesan center in Newark.

The report gave no reason for the appointment or explanation of the powers Hebda would assume.

Some Catholic experts said on Monday that the appointment of a coadjutor bishop was a direct result of Myers’ record on clergy sexual abuse.

“At the very least we can say this happened because of the sex-abuse scandal,” said Dr. Charles Reid, a canon law professor at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota. “The entrance is clear.”

For the last four months, Myers has been harshly criticized for his handling of several priests accused of sexually abusing children, notably the Rev. Michael Fugee, who was arrested in May. Fugee heard confessions of minors at youth group retreats across New Jersey in alleged violation of a legal agreement with the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office. The archbishop has insisted he didn’t know about or sanction the activities.

State lawmakers, victims’ advocates and some Catholic parishioners have urged Myers to resign for not closely supervising the cleric.

Myers also said he knew nothing about complaints that a pastor in his former Illinois diocese had abused children, complaints that were received while Myers was bishop there. A $1.3 million settlement of a lawsuit against the Peoria diocese was announced in August.

Coadjutor bishops are usually appointed when a bishop needs help leading his diocese, sometimes when they are sick or nearing retirement. Myers himself was appointed a coadjutor in Peoria in 1987 when the bishop fell ill. Goodness said on Monday that Myers, 72, was in fine health.

Bishops must submit their resignation when they turn 75.

Reid said if the coadjutor in Newark is given power of the clergy and administration, it will show the Vatican’s distrust of Myers.

When a coadjutor bishop is appointed, the Vatican can either leave it up to the two men to divide responsibilities or issue a decree giving the assistant certain powers. In one noted case, a coadjutor in Seattle was given control of pastoral issues because then-Archbishop Raymond Hunthausen was viewed by Rome as too liberal.

Monsignor Patrick Lagges, a professor at Catholic University of America, said bishops can request a coadjutor to help ensure a smooth transition after their retirement, especially if a diocese is in the middle of a capital campaign or the reorganization of schools. The Newark Archdiocese is unfolding a new schools initiative that began in 2011.

Victims advocates celebrated news of the appointment but continued to demand Myers’ ouster. David Clohessy, national director of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said Pope Francis should be more “decisive and courageous” by publicly denouncing Myers.

“The single most effective step any pope could take that would dramatically deter coverups would be to harshly and publicly discipline prelates who conceal child sex crimes,” Clohessy said.

Robert Hoatson, a victims advocate who heads Road to Recovery Inc. and a former Newark priest, said the move meant Myers was “on the way out.” He called on the coadjutor to immediately release information on clergy who have been removed from ministry because of credible molestation claims.

Fugee, a former assistant pastor in Wyckoff, was found guilty of molesting a teenage parishioner in 2003, but the conviction was overturned because of a judicial error. Prosecutors opted not to retry him but entered an agreement with the archdiocese barring him from ministering to children. Myers returned Fugee to ministry in 2009, deciding that the allegations did not “rise to the level of sexual abuse.”

Aside from the Fugee case, Myers was immersed in two other sex-abuse controversies during the summer. The archdiocese allowed the Rev. Robert Chabak, who was accused of molesting a teenage boy, to live in an Oradell parish rectory for several months after Superstorm Sandy destroyed his home. The church’s pastor resigned in July.

The settlement of the Peoria lawsuit also had Myers defending his actions. The diocese received a molestation complaint about the Rev. Thomas Maloney but did not act on it, said a lawyer for an alleged victim. A month later, Maloney allegedly abused an 8-year-old boy.

Myers testified in a 2010 deposition that he did not know about the initial abuse complaint, possibly because it became lost in the diocese’s “slipshod” filing system. After the settlement announcement, he lashed out at his critics, writing in a letter that they were “evil” for not recognizing his efforts to protect children.

Pope Benedict XVI appointed Hebda as bishop of the rural Gaylord diocese in 2009. The diocese, located in northern Michigan, is home to 84,000 Catholics, compared with Newark’s estimated 1.3 million spread across Bergen, Essex, Hudson and Union counties.

The diocese did not return calls seeking comment on Monday.

Monsignor Lagges, who is a member of the Midwest Canon Law Society, which has enlisted Hebda as a speaker, praised the bishop for his transparent and approachable style.

“He’s just a real personable man, has a good sense of humor, is very open about things,” Lagges said. “That’ll be a wonderful appointment because he really is a brilliant guy and a good pastor.”

Hebda, 54, was ordained a priest in the Pittsburgh diocese in 1989. He holds a degree in canon law, a master’s degree from Harvard University and a law degree from Columbia University. For 13 years, Hebda served on the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, a body in Rome that interprets canon law.

Email: greenj@northjersey.com. Twitter: Jeff_A_Green