WHEELING (WV)
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
August 22, 2019
By Peter Smith
Bishop Mark Brennan entered the Cathedral of St. Joseph amid all the pomp, procession and fanfare typical of a bishop’s installation.
Less typically, he wasted little time in naming the elephant in the cathedral, acknowledging the alienation of many West Virginia Catholics in the wake of sexual and financial scandals that brought an abrupt end to his predecessor’s tenure.
“The scandals we have learned about have caused painful disappointments, anger, confusion and distrust of church leaders,” he said in his homily. “We have to face that situation with open eyes and determined spirits to bring about lasting change.”
The Boston-born bishop, who spent much of his career as a Maryland parish priest before becoming an auxiliary bishop in Baltimore, was appointed in June by Pope Francis as bishop of Wheeling-Charleston.
The diocese estimates it has nearly 75,000 Catholics across the entire state, with a significant amount concentrated in the Northern Panhandle, where cities like Wheeling and Weirton share the industrial and Catholic immigrant heritage of the Ohio River Valley communities in neighboring states.
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