News from Diocese of Saginaw, MI

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This assignment came extraordinarily fast after the announcement that Bishop Carlson would be moving on. Any thoughts on why the speed in filling the vacancy when others have been waiting much longer for a new shepard?
 
singerlady said:
Are there thoughts on this appointment?
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I don’t know anything more than what is on his CV (and it sounds like he doesn’t know much about us either). Read Bishop Cistone’s statement from the the Whispers in the Loggia blog that lepanto’s first linked to earlier today.

“I must admit that I do not know a great deal about the Diocese of Saginaw…What I do know, however, is this: Jesus Christ must be at the center of all we do: all our prayers…all our thoughts…all our actions.”

“…what I can tell you is that I will do everything possible to foster ever greater devotion to our Lord Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist, whether it be by encouraging greater attendance at Mass, more worthy reception of the Eucharist, or prayerful adoration in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament.”

"I again call upon Mary, our Mother, Saint John Neumann and Saint Katharine Drexel to intercede for me to Jesus Christ our Lord that I may be a good and holy bishop, generous and kind to those in my care, faithful to the Word of God and the Magisterium, and always open to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

"…I pray: “Direct my first thoughts to the service of You and of others. Make my prayer ‘Your will be done,’ knowing that in your mercy and love, Your will for me is my sanctification.”

I like what i hear so far! I’m concerned for him though as I think he’ll be very homesick as it appears he’s spent his whole life in the Philadelphia area.
 
MICATH said:
This assignment came extraordinarily fast after the announcement that Bishop Carlson would be moving on. Any thoughts on why the speed in filling the vacancy when others have been waiting much longer for a new shepard?
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I would assume it’s based on the high need in Saginaw. Bishop Carlson probably asked His Holiness Pope Benedict to fill the spot ASAP so that business can continue.
 
This concerns me a tad…

philly.com/philly/news/local/20090521_Phila__auxiliary_bishop_to_lead_Michigan_diocese.html
A 2005 Philadelphia grand-jury investigation into clergy sexual abuse in the archdiocese concluded that Cistone, while assistant vicar for administration, was complicit in 1996 in silencing a nun who tried to alert members of St. Gabriel’s parish about an abusive priest.
The grand jury also found that, among other things, Cistone in 2002 took no action to warn a suburban school district that one of its teachers was a former priest known to abuse children. It said he had taken no action against a parish priest despite reports that he sometimes made boys strip and pricked some with pins.
In an e-mail to The Inquirer in 2005, Cistone expressed his “sorrow” for “any mistakes in judgment made by those of us . . . with responsibility for these matters.”
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Does anyone have any thoughts on the link that Frommi posted? I’m sure there is more to that story than what the media has reported. The quotes around the word “sorrow” tend to imply that the writer of the article has a bias. But given what our diocese went through in 2002, I am troubled by the story of a cover up in Philadelphia.
 
No, Singerlady, the quotes around the word “sorrow” means the reporter quoted the bishop’s statement directly.
 
singerlady said:
Does anyone have any thoughts on the link that Frommi posted? I’m sure there is more to that story than what the media has reported. The quotes around the word “sorrow” tend to imply that the writer of the article has a bias. But given what our diocese went through in 2002, I am troubled by the story of a cover up in Philadelphia.
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Hi Singerlady,
My thoughts are…mistakes, human frailty, ignorance come along with the human race, right? Let’s not go backwards, let’s trust, pray, and be watchful & vigilant. :gopray2:
God’s Love,
Beth
 
You’re right, Beth. I want to be happy about this appointment. Hopefully, lessons were learned and mistakes won’t be repeated.
 
The archdiocese responded pretty strongly to those accusations at the time

“The grand jury report purports to portray the attitude and behavior of the Archdiocese toward sexual abuse of minors. In fact, however, its content is nothing more then an attempt to convict in the court of public opinion those whom it does not indict in a court of law. This is reckless rhetoric, dispensed from any burden of proof, and is not responsible law enforcement.”

bishop-accountability.org/reports/2005_09_21_Philly_GrandJury/Response.pdf
 
You’re welcome. Judging from Pope Benedict’s recent appointments and from Bishop Cistone’s public comments, I think he will be a fine bishop. He does have some big shoes to fill, though!
 
MFM said:
The archdiocese responded pretty strongly to those accusations at the time

“The grand jury report purports to portray the attitude and behavior of the Archdiocese toward sexual abuse of minors. In fact, however, its content is nothing more then an attempt to convict in the court of public opinion those whom it does not indict in a court of law. This is reckless rhetoric, dispensed from any burden of proof, and is not responsible law enforcement.”

bishop-accountability.org/reports/2005_09_21_Philly_GrandJury/Response.pdf
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I’m just curious…is the thesis of your post that we should ignore the grand jury report because the archdiocese of philadelphia says so?
 
I’m presenting the response of the archdiocese, which was not given in the article you linked.
 
I’m presenting the response of the archdiocese, which was not given in the article you linked.
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As always, there are two sides to every story.

Cardinal Rigali vigorously defended those bishops that were implicated in the grand jury report. I looked through the 400 page report the day of the announcement of the new bishop in Saginaw. I didn’t find any of the statements of complicity that have been carelessly tossed around publicly in regards to Bishop Cistone.

Personally I think it is all mostly a ploy of SNAP and other such groups to pile more garbage on the dunghill of public misunderstanding about an organization the secular world never has, nor ever will understand, that is: the Church of Jesus Christ. Is it perfect, of course not? Yet it will prevail under the divine Lordship of it’s founder, against all who would seek to discredit it, it’s members, it’s leaders, and ultimately it’s Lord.

We must pray for our bishops, priests, deacons, brothers and sisters religious. We must pray for ourselves that we will all “do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God.”
 
frommi said:
I’m just curious…is the thesis of your post that we should ignore the grand jury report because the archdiocese of philadelphia says so?
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No, but because is seems +Benedict places more credence in the archdioceses’ report than the grand jury’s.

And given the choice between believing Cardinal Rigali’s report and a county DA’s report where evidence for the defense is specifically disallowed, I know which one I would follow.
 
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