VERMONT
WCAX
By Keith McGilvery
BURLINGTON, Vt. –
Pomp and circumstance welcomed Bishop Salvatore Matano to Vermont in 2005 when the Vatican tapped him to lead the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington.
“Bishop Matano is very capable person and certainly it is not unexpected that he might be tapped and chosen to go elsewhere,” said Professor Edward Mahoney, a Religious Studies Professor at St. Michaels College.
Mahoney says Matano has been a strong leader. “I think his strengths are pastoral and also in management in terms of getting a diocese organized and functioning properly,” he said.
But others have been less than impressed with 67-year-old’s time as Bishop. “He came in well after the sexual abuse had come to an end, however he wasn’t willing to take the steps that we really believed were needed going forward,” said Jerry O’Neill, a lawyer who was involved in settling roughly 50 priest sex abuse cases involving the diocese. Those cases forced the church to sell much of its property and fork over millions to victims.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.