Philly has new archbishop
PHILADELPHIA — Archbishop Charles Chaput took the helm of the troubled Roman Catholic church in Philadelphia on Thursday by telling followers “the church is not defined by her failures.”
The outspoken Chaput didn’t shy away from veiled references to the church’s woes, chief among them the clergy sex-abuse crisis.
“The church is not defined by her failures. You and I are not defined by critics or those who dislike us,” he said in his first homily at the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul. “What we do in the coming months and years to respond to these challenges — that will define who we really are.”
Chaput, 66, is known as a conservative leader devoted to evangelism and social justice. He has also been outspoken about his disapproval of “cafeteria Catholics,” such as Catholic politicians who support abortion rights.
In a lighter moment in his homily Thursday, the new arrival from Denver likened his Philadelphia post to “an arranged marriage” — with the pope as matchmaker. But he said arranged marriages work if people get to know and love each other.
“The good news is that romance is a modern invention — and given the divorce rate, not everything it’s cranked up to be,” he said.
Chaput inherits an archdiocese of nearly 1.5 million people reeling from two grand jury reports since 2005 about the priest sexual-abuse crisis.
Three priests and a former Catholic school teacher await a March trial on charges they raped children, while Monsignor William Lynn is the first U.S. church official charged for allegedly transferring priest-predators to new parishes. Chaput said this week that Lynn should not become “a scapegoat” for the archdiocese.
“We’re excited. I think he’s the right fit for our situation,” Barbara Miller, 47, of Bryn Mawr, who attended the Mass with her husband Peter. They are raising two sons in the church.
“I think he’s going to bring energy and life and vitality back to the archdiocese, and unite us all,” she said.
Chaput succeeds Cardinal Justin Rigali, a more reserved leader whose eight-year tenure was marked by the stunning — and explicit — grand jury reports. Prosecutors declined to file criminal charges in 2005, but charged Lynn and the others this year under new District Attorney Seth Williams.
