MASSACHUSETTS
MassLive
Springfield’s Bishop Mitchell Rozanski, loyal to Orioles, Church doctrine and being a listener
By Anne-Gerard Flynn | aflynn@repub.com
on August 06, 2014
The Most Rev. Mitchell T. Rozanski will be installed as the ninth bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield on Aug. 12 at 2 p.m. at St. Michael’s Cathedral. Rozanski, of Polish heritage, has been auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, where his duties included ministry to Hispanics, as well as to clergy and religious. Appointed auxiliary by Pope John Paul II, his ordination on Aug. 24, 2004, at the age of 46, made him the youngest bishop in the United States at the time.
On the day before his 56th birthday on Aug. 6, Rozanski gave one of his first area interviews, fielding questions in the diocesan chancery about his favorite baseball team (the Orioles), his mother’s advice to remember his working class roots, and his beliefs in Catholic education, a pastoral approach to Catholic doctrine and ongoing Church vigilance against any abuse of minors.
“The charter has been effective,” said Rozanski, who is involved with minor revisions to the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops’ seminal, Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, first issued to Church workers, in 2005. All 195 U.S. dioceses now have staff to assist victims of abuse, bishops are required to report allegations of abuse to law enforcement authorities, and most dioceses undergo annual review of compliance with the document’s 17 points. Billions of dollars in settlement money has been paid by the Church to victims of pedophile clergy, in the wake of victims coming forward and the release of court documents showing a pattern of suspected clergy being transferred to different assignments. “It has raised the consciousness of bishops, priests, deacons, religious, lay ecclesial ministers, catechists, anybody entrusted with youth that, when they feel something is wrong, that they step forward and say it.”
Rozanski stressed that ongoing awareness and adherence to the charter’s regulations is key, something Pope Francis underscored in his recent statement that “all bishops must carry out their pastoral ministry with the utmost care in order to help foster the protection of minors, and they will be held accountable.” The pope’s statement was seen as addressing criticisms that bishops transferred pedophile priests, rather than address allegations of abuse against them.
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