Bishop Perez of Cleveland tapped to replace Chaput in Philadelphia

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I guess that’s not such a big surprise as he came from the Philly seminary and was a Philly priest before being promoted to bishop.

It’s a bit rough on Cleveland though as he only was installed there 2 years ago and now they have to adjust all over again to a new bishop. I wonder who they’ll get.
 
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But he isn’t a native Philadelphian; he’s from Miami. He’s a graduate from seminary in Philly. NOT quite the same as a native Philly guy, yo.
 
Yeah, I know, but he was at three different parishes in Philly before he became a bishop and got sent somewhere else.

Chaput wasn’t from Philly either. He was from Kansas. Correction, he went to seminary high school in Kansas and actual seminary in some rural area near Pittsburgh.

It’s also probably a good thing to have someone with knowledge of Hispanics in Philadelphia. There are a lot of them in the Archdiocese.
 
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Here is a more local perspective about Archbishop Perez. I hadn’t realized he was pastor of St. Agnes so recently. I was working in the neighborhood of St. Agnes in 2012 but hadn’t gotten myself back to active Catholic practice yet, so I didn’t see him there. I did meet him in some suburb of Cleveland once.

I’m also pretty shocked that it’s taken this long to name a Philadelphia priest archbishop (the article says he’s the first one) given that this area churns out boatloads of priests.

 
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I wonder where Archbishop Chaput will go now. Back to his province? To a Capuchin retirement community?
 
It’s been announced that he is going into retirement living at a community for special needs and disabled children. I presume he will serve in some pastoral capacity there.

The NYT also said he would give talks and lead retreats.
 
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It’s just a shame that the Pope wouldn’t make him a cardinal. I think he deserves it more than a couple of the past Archbishops who were made Cardinals. They let all kinds of rot go on under their watch.
 
So sad to see him leave Cleveland. He was a breath of fresh air and well loved. I’m curious why the Pope placed him here and then transferred him so quickly. Cleveland has a large Latino community, but since Philly is larger than Cleveland, I’m sure their is even larger. I wish him and the people of Philly the best.
 
I wonder how long it might take to find a replacement. I think currently there are 7 diocese (including Cleveland) with Bishop vacancies.
 
I wasn’t a big fan of Bishop Lennon because he closed a church in my neighborhood (it reopened, but it had a lot of damage inside from being closed for several years). I worry every time they pick a new bishop that we’ll get another one like that who wants to close everything.
 
I understand. Bishop Lennon, like him or not, was sent here for a reason (“right size” the diocese). I heard a lot of people say the same about Bishop Perez (heal the community), but I just feel that we have a long way to go to heal. I’m sure the Pope will be guided by the Holy Spirit and Cleveland will get a Bishop that we need to help us continue to heal and evangelize the Good News.
 
I read that Bishop Perez requires the Cleveland Diocese laity to remain standing from the Agnus Dei until after all have received Communion. Comments?
 
irishcolleen45 said:
I read that Bishop Perez requires the Cleveland Diocese laity to remain standing from the Agnus Dei until after all have received Communion. Comments?
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I don’t know if he required it, but I did find it a little weird when I attended a Church in the Cleveland diocese. My family and I kneeled because that’s what we do in my diocese. No one made seemed to care that we did.
 
irishcolleen45 said:
I read that Bishop Perez requires the Cleveland Diocese laity to remain standing from the Agnus Dei until after all have received Communion. Comments?
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Yeah, he did emphasize the wish for everybody to remain standing. As did his predecessor. I remember some “reminder” letter from Bishop Perez about standing at Communion time being read out loud at a Mass I was at in Cleveland diocese a couple years ago. I remember when this practice was instituted under a previous bishop (I think it was Lennon but it could have been Pilla, my memory is foggy) and we all got instructions from the pulpit about standing after Communion and continuing to stand till the priest sat down. Given the size of many of the churches and the fact that lots of people are not physically able to stand that long, or had been kneeling in prayer after Communion for 40 years and weren’t interested in changing, some people stood and some people sat and some people knelt and it’s probably going to continue that way.

As it’s my understanding that the bishops can express that we’re supposed to do this, but that it is also permitted to continue to kneel, I continue to kneel, as I do in every one of the 7 or so dioceses that I often find myself worshipping in. I find it much easier to just do the same postures every place I go. In general I do things the same way I was taught as a child and the only thing I have added is that I bow before receiving Communion and bow when the cross passes in the procession, as those two things were not the norm when I was taught.

I will be curious to see if Archbishop Perez sends out such a “reminder” letter when he gets to Philadelphia. I guarantee you that a large number of the faithful are going to ignore it if he does and just keep on with the kneeling. People like to kneel in Philly archdiocese, and at OF churches with no kneelers you will see a lot of people (including me) kneeling on the floor, including at Communion time.
drcube said:
My family and I kneeled because that’s what we do in my diocese. No one made seemed to care that we did.
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You’re correct. Nobody cares.
I could also take you to OF churches in Cleveland frequented by “old school” ethnic Catholics and everybody would be kneeling, despite the fact that the standing business was put into effect at least 20 years ago and didn’t originate with Perez.
 
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God will bless our esteemed Archbishop Chaput for his faithfullness to the Truths and teachings of our faith.He is a very special man.🙏
 
Thank you for that clarification that it didn’t start with Archbishop Perez.

I bow when the priest passes in procession. I also kneel from the Agnus Dei to when priest sits down. Sometimes I remain kneeling until the priest stands to give the final blessing. Kneeling is a way of showing humility so it surprises me that a bishop would suggest otherwise. Obviously not everyone can kneel. One parishioner remains standing through the Consecration. I think there’s a medical issue there.
Some visitors have ask one of our priest why parishioners remain kneeling even if they don’t have to. I guess we’re the kneelers here. 😆
 
Can you clarify what you mean by “heal the community”? I’m not up-to date on all dioceses’ issues.
 
It’s not just Perez or the previous bishop. The GIRM from 2003 actually says we’re all supposed to stand from Agnus Dei till after Communion distribution is finished. I suspect that directive comes from the era when churches were also being built with pews and no kneelers.

The “standing rule” is just not enforced in many US dioceses. Cleveland is the only diocese I’ve seen where two bishops made big announcements about it. Maybe there are other dioceses I have not been to.

Here’s a copy of Bishop Perez’ actual letter where he references the GIRM.

 
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