TEXAS
Dallas Morning News
Joshua J. Whitfield, Contributor
For Texan of the Year, I nominate an Irishman. An Irishman fluent in Spanish, a Churchill scholar, a bishop skilled in matters ecclesiastical and diplomatic, skilled in all the sacerdotal ways of grace, a man of joy, humor and mercy.
He’s a worthy candidate: Kevin J. Farrell, sometime bishop of Dallas and now Cardinal of the church, once a bishop of our city, now a bishop for the world.
His legacy is manifold, of a diocese healed after having been rocked (rightfully so) by one of the worst clergy sex-abuse scandals in the country, now healed and even more. He leaves a Catholic community that is now full of confidence, vision and growth. His is also a legacy of competence, charity and goodwill, of a graciousness that in his ministry transcended lines of creed, class and race.
That is, he was what a good Catholic bishop is supposed to be: a bishop for all people, for all are loved by God.
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