FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 9/19/2011
Statement on appointment of new Catholic bishop for Manchester NH
By Terence McKiernan, president and founder, BishopAccountability.org
The appointment of Auxiliary Bishop Peter A. Libasci to replace
the disgraced
Bishop John B. McCormack is yet another example of the Vatican’s
cronyism and failure to treat the ongoing abuse crisis with the
seriousness it deserves. The people of the Manchester diocese desperately
needed a new bishop with a clean slate. Instead, Manchester has
yet again been treated by the Vatican as a prize to be awarded to
someone in Cardinal Bernard Law’s network. Law continues to
use his powerful position on the Vatican’s Congregation of
Bishops and his prominence in Rome as archpriest of the Saint Mary
Major Basilica. After 13 years of being run by a protégé
of Cardinal Law, the Manchester diocese will now be run by a protégé
of a protégé.
Bishop-elect Libasci rose to prominence under Bishop William F.
Murphy of Rockville Centre NY, whose misdeeds in Boston were condemned
by the Massachusetts Attorney General (see the Reilly
report) and the U.S. Attorney (see the
Scanlan case) but rewarded by Cardinal Law.
With this new appointment, Pope Benedict has shown disrespect to
the people of New Hampshire, to the survivors who were treated badly
by Bishop McCormack and Bishop Murphy, and to survivors of clergy
abuse everywhere, whose abuse was caused or exacerbated by the corrupt
managerial practices of the Vatican.
Libasci’s history in the Rockville Centre diocese raises
questions:
- Bishop Murphy made Libasci responsible in 2007 for Suffolk County
– the part of the Rockville Centre diocese that had been
analyzed in the shocking 2003 Suffolk
County Grand Jury Report. More than a third of the accused
priests discussed anonymously in that report have never been named.
As auxiliary bishop, Libasci could have identified those priests,
but instead he chose to keep their identities secret.
- In the years before he became auxiliary bishop in Rockville
Centre, Libasci worked at SS. Cyril and Methodius
church in Deer Park from 1982 to 1989. His close colleague
there, Rev. Louis I. Newman, was moved to San Diego in 1989 and
was revealed in 2002 to be accused of abuse.
We urge Bishop-elect Libasci to come clean about the abuse situation
in Rockville Centre and about the allegations against Newman.
The promotion of Libasci is yet another example of the Vatican’s
“keeping it in the family.” The list of Cardinal Law’s
protégés who have been rewarded with a bishop’s
hat includes: McCormack promoted to Manchester, Hughes to New Orleans,
Banks to Green Bay, Daily to Brooklyn, Murphy to Rockville Centre,
Malone to Portland ME, Lennon to Cleveland, Coyne to Indianapolis,
and now Libasci to Manchester. Pope Benedict should have removed
Cardinal Law from his position at the Basilica and repudiated the
practice of reward that Cardinal Law, Bishop McCormack, Bishop Murphy,
and now Bishop Libasci represent. In Philadelphia, a church manager
has been indicted and will be tried. In Rome, such men are rewarded
and promoted.
Terence McKiernan
508-479-9304 cell
mckiernan1@comcast.net
Additional contact:
Anne Barrett Doyle, Co-Director
781-439-5208
About BishopAccountability.org:
Launched in 2003, BishopAccountability.org is a comprehensive archive
of the worldwide sexual abuse crisis in the Roman Catholic Church.
We have compiled an online database of 3,600 publicly accused priests,
and our online library contains more than 100,000 pages of church
records, legal documents, and media reports. An independent non-profit,
our mission is to give the public one-stop access to information
about the crisis. We are not victims' advocates or church reformers,
and we are not affiliated with any advocacy or religious group.
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