BishopAccountability.org

Welcome to Syracuse Catholic Diocese’s new spiritual leader

By Marie Morelli
Post Standard
June 9, 2019

https://bit.ly/2WuKEtv

Current Bishop Robert J. Cunningham looks on as Douglas John Lucia, Bishop-elect for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse, speaks after the announcement of his appointment at The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Syracuse, NY, Tuesday June 4, 2019.
Photo by Scott Schild

[with video]

Last week, Central New York met the priest with the potential to lead the Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse for the next 20 years: Bishop-elect Douglas Lucia, 56, a parish pastor and canon lawyer in the Ogdensburg Diocese. His elevation represents a pivot to a younger generation of leadership by an institution seeking to renew itself, regain the trust of its members and remain relevant in an increasingly secular world.

Lucia will take over from Bishop Robert J. Cunningham, whose decade as the spiritual leader of the Catholic Church in Syracuse was dominated by the clergy sexual abuse crisis and its fallout.

In his first public comments on the crisis, the bishop-elect expressed compassion for victims of clergy sexual abuse. “I just want to be a healing presence,” he said Tuesday at an introductory news conference.

He also signaled a willingness to be transparent about the perpetrators of sexual abuse. In a wide-ranging Q&A with staff writer Julie McMahon, Lucia said he favors releasing the names of priests with allegations against them.

It’s a point of view his predecessor came around to only as his time in office neared an end due to mandatory retirement. In December, Cunningham broke years of silence and released the names of 57 priests with credible accusations of sexual abuse against them. The bishop also created an independent process to compensate victims of clergy sexual abuse. The diocese has paid nearly $11 million to 79 victims, so far.

At the time he released the names, Cunningham said he had done so to take the burden of the decision off of his successor. But the decks aren’t completely clear for Lucia.

The new bishop will have to decide whether to reopen the compensation program for victims who came forward only after the diocese publicized the names of accused priests. And we continue to hear from victims who allege their abusers were not on the list, raising questions about whether it was truly a complete accounting. The drip, drip, drip of new abuse revelations, locally and nationally, gives oxygen to the crisis. The only way to put it in the past is to come clean about the past.

In other ways, Cunningham leaves Lucia in a good position.

The current bishop already made difficult and often unpopular decisions to reconfigure parishes, most recently in Oswego, to account for a shrinking population and declining church membership. He presided over a $12 million campaign to restore the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in downtown Syracuse, a church he considers “a home for all the diocese.”

During his tenure, Cunningham wrote pastoral letters on faith and family. Catholic schools and training the next generation of priests were priorities. The bishop also pushed back at the present administration in Washington as it turned against refugees and immigrants.

In an interview posted to the diocesan website in honor of his 50th year as a priest, Cunningham was self-deprecating about his time as bishop. “When Pope Benedict sent me to Syracuse, he could have sent perhaps a better preacher or teacher or administrator, but he couldn’t have sent anybody that tried to love the people of Syracuse more, and I hope they’ll realize that," the bishop said.

Lucia said one of his first priorities as bishop will be to “visit folks in their parishes,” perhaps by spending weekends at various churches around the diocese. That would be a new experience for many Catholics, whose only interaction with the bishop is usually when receiving the sacrament of Confirmation.

We wish Cunningham well as he retires, and look forward to getting to know his successor. Don’t be surprised if you see Bishop-elect Lucia at the ballpark, on a hike or paddling a kayak. In case you don’t recognize him, he’ll be the one wearing a clerical collar and a Boston Red Sox cap.

About Syracuse.com editorials

Editorials represent the collective opinion of the Advance Media New York editorial board. Our opinions are independent of news coverage. Read our mission statement. Members of the editorial board are Tim Kennedy, Trish LaMonte, Jason Murray and Marie Morelli.

Contact: mmorelli@syracuse.com




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