|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
THE BISHOP'S VOICE: My Friendships with Archbishop Chaput and Cardinal Rigali
By MOST REV. MICHAEL J. SHERIDAN
Diocese of Colorado Springs
As I write this column on Sept. 3, I am marking the 14th anniversary of my ordination as a bishop. In the course of my 14 years in the episcopate, I have met and come to know many other bishops. With more than 400 bishops in the United States, it is difficult, if not impossible, to know them all well. There are two bishops, however, that are very much in my thoughts today: Archbishop Charles Chaput and Cardinal Justin Rigali.
By the time this column is published, Archbishop Chaput will have been installed as the archbishop of Philadelphia, one of the largest and most important dioceses in the country. I am confident — as are so many others who know him — that Archbishop Chaput will prove to be a faithful and good shepherd there, just as he has been for 14 years in the Archdiocese of Denver. At the same time, I will miss a man who has been a friend and mentor, especially during the 10 years that we have worked together in Colorado.
I met Archbishop (then-Father) Chaput nearly 30 years ago, when he was the provincial superior of the Capuchin Franciscans and I was a professor of theology at Kenrick Seminary in St. Louis. We served together on the board of trustees of a Dominican theology school in St. Louis. Even then I had a sense of his skills as a leader and as a priest who loved his community and the church. I was not at all surprised when he was named a diocesan bishop (of the Diocese of Rapid City) at only 44 years of age. I know that I am serving as a bishop in Colorado, in part, because Archbishop Chaput recommended me.
There is much that Archbishop Chaput has taught me by way of his example, but I think that it is his courageous and steadfast proclamation of the Gospel that has impressed me the most. His insistence that our Catholic faith has a rightful place in the public square — especially as regards the right to life of every human person, the sanctity of marriage and the needs of our immigrants — has been a hallmark of his tenure in Denver. And he suffered a great deal because of his fearless teaching, often at the hands of his fellow Catholics who would continue to claim that religion and politics have no business together.
On Sept. 8, I will have said goodbye to Archbishop Chaput when I concelebrated his installation Mass in Philadelphia.Fortunately, in this digital age even 2,000 miles is not that far away. The archbishop is well-known for his quick responses to e-mails, and I look forward to continuing our relationship, even if by computer. More importantly, I know that we are forever bound in the fraternity of Christ’s priesthood. I will remember him in prayer often, and I know that he will do the same for me.
Archbishop Chaput goes to Philadelphia to succeed Cardinal Justin Rigali, who, at the age of 76, is looking forward to a well-deserved retirement. It was Cardinal Rigali who ordained me to the episcopacy when he was archbishop of St. Louis. I served as his auxiliary bishop for four years before coming to Colorado Springs as coadjutor bishop to Bishop (Richard) Hanifen. Cardinal Rigali taught me how to be a bishop. Whatever my failings are in this office are not due to him, but to my own inadequacies.
More importantly, I think Cardinal Rigali taught me how to be a better priest. His love for Jesus Christ and for the church was stronger — more rock solid — than anything I had ever witnessed, and I am forever grateful that his example was the cause of my coming to know and rely on Christ more and more. I tried my best to assist him in some difficult times in St. Louis, but in the end I knew that it was his trust in the Lord that always saw him through. When I was named an auxiliary bishop, I confessed to the cardinal that I felt totally inadequate for the job. He told me that if God called me to that service, God would provide all that I needed to carry it out. He believed that with all his heart, and I have come to believe it, too.
Cardinal Rigali has always been both a father and a friend. We vacation together. He calls to wish me a blessed Christmas every Dec. 25. This morning he phoned me, as he does every year on this day, to congratulate me on another anniversary of my ordination as a bishop. He is always available to advise me whenever I ask. Cardinal Rigali has been a great blessing to the church and to me.
As I watch one dear friend leave office to be replaced by another dear friend, I am impressed by how quickly time goes by and how really few are the years that we have to serve God and the church in this world. I commend my confreres Charles and Justin to the care of Jesus and his mother Mary. Please pray for them. Please pray for me and for all bishops and priests, that we may persevere in the vocation that God has given us.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|