Bishops' Schedules: Schedule of Bishop William H. Bullock Thursday, May 9, 2002 9:00 a.m. -- Attend Presbyteral Council Meeting, Bishop O'Connor Catholic Pastoral Center, Madison Friday, May 10, 2002 10:00 a.m. -- Preside at Morning Prayer, Parish Secretaries' Day, Bishop O'Connor Catholic Pastoral Center Saturday, May 11, 2002 4:30 p.m. -- Preside and Preach at Celebration of the Sacrament of Confirmation, St. Matthew Parish, Shullsburg, with Our Lady of Hope Parish, Seymour, and St. Peter Parish, Elk Grove, at St. Matthew Parish, Shullsburg Sunday, May 12, 2002 10:00 a.m. -- Preside and Preach at Celebration of the Eucharist, Solemnity of the Ascension of Our Lord, St. Raphael Cathedral, Madison 2:30 p.m. -- Preside at the Blessing of the Rachel Statue, Resurrection Cemetery, Madison Wednesday, May 15, 2002 9:30 a.m. -- Attend Corporate Board Meeting, Bishop O'Connor Catholic Pastoral Center, Madison Thursday, May 16, 2002 6:00 p.m. -- Attend Serra Club of Madison, Spring Dinner, Bishop O'Connor Catholic Pastoral Center, Madison Schedule of Bishop George O. Wirz Thursday, May 9, 2002 9:00 a.m. -- Attend Presbyteral Council Meeting, Bishop O'Connor Catholic Pastoral Center, Madison Saturday, May 11, 2002 5:00 p.m. -- Preside and Preach at Celebration of the Sacrament of Confirmation, St. Mary Parish, Milton Sunday, May 12, 2002 10:00 a.m. -- Preside and Preach at Celebration of the Sacrament of Confirmation, St. Bernard Parish, Watertown Wednesday, May 15, 2002 7:30 p.m. -- Preside and Preach at Celebration of the Sacrament of Confirmation, St. Cecilia Parish, Wisconsin Dells Thursday, May 16, 2002 6:00 p.m. -- Attend Serra Club of Madison, Spring Dinner, Bishop O'Connor Catholic Pastoral Center, Madison

Sacrifices by our priests

		The Bishop: A Herald of Faith Bishop William H. Bullock

On June 12th this year nine of our priests will retire. On that same day over 20 of our priests will take up different assignments and begin anew.

The process we use for assignments is a healthy one. We have in place a seven-member board of priests elected by their peers to assist the Bishop in making assignments. It works well in our Diocese. Sometimes we compromise and I do it their way and at other times they and we do it my way.

"In making selections of a priest to a particular ministry or parish, care is given to match the talents of the priest with the nature and demands of the parish."

The process

In making selections of a priest to a particular ministry or parish, care is given to match the talents of the priest with the nature and demands of the parish. In most instances it has worked very well. The result is that God's people are served.

No term of office

In our Diocese we do not have a defined term of office for pastors, parochial vicars, or for priests in specialized ministries: Vicar General, chaplains in armed forces, chaplains of hospitals, Tribunal work, to mention but a few.

The result, however, of not having a term of office such as seven years for pastors, three years for parochial vicars is: how do you know when a priest should move?

Priests to wonder

A priest himself wonders if a transfer to another parish might be in his best interest. The parishioners in some number may feel Father has given us all he can here, so perhaps he should move on.

The advantage of a "term" is there is an easy way out. No priest wishes to be on record as saying, "please move me," for that would appear disloyal to parishioners. Sometimes a priest may privately ask to be moved but without wishing in any way to offend his parishioners. Sometimes the Bishop gets the blame.

However, the point I wish to make following my description of our process is that most priests are absolutely cooperative with me and with the Personnel Board in declaring their preferences and defining their needs.

Promitto = "I promise"

Every priest alive today put his hands inside those of the Bishop at ordination and answered the question put to him, "Do you promise obedience to me and to all my successors?" The answer is "I do," for he wishes truly to serve as needs surface and the Bishop calls.

Obedience to the promise and to Christ in the person of the Bishop (the Latin "promitto") is not to serve at the whim of the Bishop or the preference of the priest, but to all the needs in the Diocese.

These needs are reviewed and requests are made by the Bishop to a new assignment, and the priest accepts or resigns his present parish, moves to the new parish, is installed, and life moves on.

Dig up roots

It is not easy to dig up roots, leave the familiar, and depart from people and dear friends who have become part of your journey. While objectively speaking we all welcome a new challenge, it does not diminish the pain of leaving the known for the unknown.

Nigerian priests

I wish to offer a special thanks to our Nigerian priests from the Archdiocese of Owerri, Nigeria. They are seven in number and show eagerness for evangelization. They are willing to serve where needed and have continually shown their desire to learn a new culture. Truly I say a public thanks in this column to them and to Archbishop Anthony Obinna.

Laity wonderfully accepting

Our laity is wonderfully accepting of our priests in their assignments, and this is a testimony to their faith and goodness.

The priests are apostolically rooted in the reality that the Gospel must be preached, the Mass offered, and Sacraments celebrated. "Where can I best do this?" is a question in the heart of all our good and wonderful priests.

Sins of a few reflect on many

I am saddened that a very, very small percentage of priests in our country, guilty of sexual abuse of minors, have cast a dark shadow on all of us. But in spite of it, our priests say it is a privilege to be a priest.

I am happy being a priest, and I am willing to serve where I can best serve the Church and build up the Kingdom. "You are a priest forever," the Scriptures say of Christ, and the Lord Jesus, too, says it of us, his priests.

Statement by U.S. bishops on clergy sexual abuse

Dear brother and sister Catholics:

During the Easter season, our liturgy recalls the image of Jesus, the good shepherd. In St. John's Gospel, the Lord tells us that the sheep follow the shepherd "because they recognize his voice. But they will not follow a stranger; they will run away from him because they do not recognize the voice of strangers." What powerful words for the present moment in the life of our church!

There is no more meaningful image in holy Scripture for a bishop than the good shepherd. This is the ideal that the Lord wants us to keep before ourselves in our service to the church. But over the last several months, both because of the sexual abuse of children and young people by priests and how this wounding and terrible crime was sometimes dealt with, we are asking ourselves, "Has our voice become the voice of strangers? Do people now no longer recognize our voice?"

If we are in danger of this, it is something that, with God's grace, we cannot and will not let happen.

We, your bishops, believed that we had made considerable progress in dealing with sexual abuse of minors and in creating safe environments for children. As the details of troubling cases from the past emerged, that sense of progress has been all but wiped out. We stand ready to take the steps needed to strengthen our past resolve and to keep children and young people safe for the future and to help heal those so tragically hurt by this abuse.

Your bishops have been in intensive discussion about how to provide to the fullest extent humanly possible for the protection of children and youth. And, as you know, the Holy Father has taken a very personal interest in the work we are doing and has offered us whatever assistance we need in addressing this issue.

Recommendations to achieve the goal of the protection of our children will be the main agenda item at the Bishops' general meeting in Dallas, June 13-15. As we offer prayers for each of you, please pray for us, your bishops, during the coming weeks that our decisions on behalf of children and youth will be wise and effective and for the well-being of the whole church.

May God bless each of you and your families and loved ones.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Most Reverend Wilton D. Gregory
President, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops

Most Reverend William H. Bullock
Bishop of Madison