ARTICLES

Diocese addressing Pope’s concerns

By Steve Neill
Of The Catholic Virginian

Upon his return to Richmond following a two-day visit to Washington while Pope Benedict XVI was there, Bishop Francis X. DiLorenzo said that he is pleased that the Diocese of Richmond seems to be following the wishes the pontiff expressed in living out his vision of how the Catholic Church should respond to current moral issues.

“In listening to our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI, I think we in the Diocese of Richmond compare pretty favorably with the vision he has sketched out,” Bishop DiLorenzo told The Catholic Virginian.

Bishop DiLorenzo, along with Bishop Emeritus Walter F. Sullivan, attended the evening prayer service with other American bishops at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception April 16. They both attended the Papal Mass the following morning at Washington Nationals Park Stadium. During his homily at both events, Pope Benedict addressed issues which affect Americans today.

“We seem to be on the same page in terms of his vision on moral issues such as abortion, embryonic stem cell research and marriage,” Bishop DiLorenzo said.

“As he has asked all Americans to do, we in the Diocese of Richmond are welcoming new immigrants through development of our ethnic ministries and through assistance to immigrants through the Office of Refugee and Immigration Services.

“We are working vigorously on advocacy issues which seek to help the poor and disabled. We are pursuing these advocacy issues in calling for legislation through the Virginia Catholic Conference.”

The Diocese of Richmond has established an Office for Catholics with Disabilities and seeks to help disabled people and include them in the mainstream of parish and diocesan activities, Bishop DiLorenzo said.

“Regarding vocations to the priesthood, we are experiencing a shortage, but we’ve been fortunate to be welcoming new international priests from the Philippines and from Uganda. And Father Michael Renninger, our diocesan vocations director, has been successful in finding good men who want to be priests for our diocese.

“In response to the sex abuse scandal, we’ve been in compliance with the national audit for the past three years. We are observing the letter and the spirit of the Dallas guidelines for protecting God’s children.”

The diocese requires that all staff personnel and volunteers in parishes and Catholic schools and organizations attend a VIRTUS program which addresses the issue of sexual abuse of children and points out warning signs of possible abuse and gives direction on how one should respond if they see those warning signs.

“Priests who have had credible allegations of sexual abuse of young people have been permanently removed from priestly ministry,” Bishop DiLorenzo said.

The bishop said that Annette Parsons, diocesan Chief School Officer, attended Pope Benedict’s address to a group of some 500 Catholic educators. After hearing of his address, the bishop reported that the diocese is following the Holy Father’s hope that “everything possible must be done, in cooperation with the wider community, to ensure that they (Catholic schools) are accessible to people of all social and economic strata.”

Pope Benedict said that Catholic schools are important and central to the Church’s mission. Bishop DiLorenzo says that he shares the same view and feels that the diocese’s new Increased Offertory plan will help make Catholic schools in the diocese more affordable.

“But with all this, there is always room for improvement and ongoing conversion,” he said.

“As Pope Benedict has asked us, let us all be a witness to Christ our hope.”

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