The Final Word Maine bishop of 15 years shares thoughts on Roman Catholic issues as he prepares to retire

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Behind the desk of the bishop who oversees Maine’s 234,000 Roman Catholics is an 18th century iron cross. It is about 3 feet tall and is one of the few things that survived a massacre of the Catholic mission at Norridgewock by British soldiers in 1723.

In an act of bravery and faith, a Native American named One-Armed Nikola took the cross from the village church to Indian Island in the Penobscot River and later the Penobscots took the iron cross to Baltimore and asked the bishop for a priest to minister on their island.

Last year, a delegation from St. Ann’s Catholic Church on Indian Island left the iron cross with Bishop Joseph J. Gerry in Portland.

The iron cross will stay with the bishop, even after Gerry retires and is succeeded next month by Bishop Richard Malone of the Archdiocese of Boston, who was named by the Vatican on Tuesday as bishop of Portland, a diocese that comprises the whole state.

Gerry, 75, has usually been camera- and interview-shy. But he shared some of his thoughts after 15 years as Maine’s bishop in an interview with reporter Judy Harrison of the Bangor Daily News in December and in comments last November to the Bishop’s Guild, an advisory panel made up of clergymen and laymembers.

Finances

“Parish income overall has declined slightly. In addition, response to the 2003 Bishop’s Appeal is lagging some $230,000 behind the $3.5 million goal. [According to February figures, the appeal is less than $84,000 short of its goal.]

“On the positive side, we have established the Catholic Foundation for Maine as the vehicle to promote bequests, trusts and endowments in support of parishes, schools, the diocese and other Catholic institutions throughout Maine. The functioning of the Catholic Foundation is crucial to our long-term ability to maintain and expand evangelization efforts and pastoral services. The board of trustees has been selected for the foundation and plans are in order to hire an executive director.

“I recognize that financial accountability is very important. The diocesan finance council meets quarterly to examine all aspects of the church’s stewardship of the monies entrusted to our care. An outside audit is conducted every year of all diocesan finances, and about a quarter of all parishes are audited each year. We are committed to making a public statement of expenses and revenue.

“However, because of our corporate structure … all the information from parishes, the diocese and schools is combined and therefore very difficult for the average person to analyze. We are working on ways to make information about our financial standing more understandable to a wider public.”

Evangelization

“In my view, this remains our greatest challenge. We live in a world where many people find it very easy to spend their days and make their moral decisions as if God did not exist. We call that practical atheism. Our outreach to them through the inquire and catechumenate processes in our parishes, through high school youth ministry and young adult ministry, through the services of Catholic Charities Maine, through campus ministry on university, and pastoral care in hospitals is touching literally thousands of such persons every year. … But there is much more to do.

“The greatest tool for evangelization is each individual parishioner and the parish community as a whole.

“Individual parishioners have the ability to bring the good news to their co-workers, to their neighbors, even to their own family members. The more we can help them accomplish that mission in very simple ways, the greater impact the church will have on the many people in Maine who have never really encountered the Risen Lord in any way. I hope that each of us can … raise the level of discussion in our parishes around the question: How do we introduce Jesus Christ to the people of our community who, up to now, have not met him? If all our parishes and diocesan efforts could be seen in that light, I believe we would all feel more motivated to accomplish the various ministries that have been entrusted to us.”

The future of the church

“If you grasp the meaning of church, then you’re at the heart of the divine life. And so the hope is that God will provide. He may take his time to have us catch up, but he will provide.

“When I was a kid, it was the priest that did everything. He was the most educated person in the town. Not the way it is now. You have a lot of laypeople who are very highly educated, very competent and are most willing and desirous to share their gifts in whatever way they can for the life of the church.

“Catechetics: Before, it was all either sisters or priests. Look at the laypeople involved in catechetics. Look at the lay people involved in youth ministry. Practically everything you can think of now involves laypeople – lectors in church, Eucharistic ministers, parish councils and various commissions they have in churches. In many ways, I think the parishes are more alive and attuned to society than they were in my time.

“I see the hope in the deep belief of the presence of the Spirit within the church. I have a definition of church that is really very simple and is taken from one of the prefaces in the Mass and it speaks of the church as a sign of God’s infinite holiness and a living gospel that everyone can hear. That is what you’re working toward – that the people that make up the church [become] in touch with and [live] the dynamic of the divine life [and] will become a sign that Christ is truly risen and living in our midst.”

Vocations and the priest shortage

“I don’t think it is healthy [for priests] to live in isolation unless you have [a solitary] vocation. I think you need the support of one another. We need that not only from a human point of view, [but] from a theological point of view. And I think there’s no one that can help you be as honest as a peer.

“We are never going to serve the diocese unless we develop a missionary mentality. My suggestion is we [priests] really should be living as groups of two or three, then going out, doing work that has to be done, and returning to home base. I would like to think that down the pike that could very well be the direction in which we move. If you have a fellow priest with you and something happens, you’ve got someone to check it with.

“This summer we ordained three men to the priesthood. Next summer we will ordain one. This fall we were encouraged by the five men who entered priestly formation. Next June we will ordain eight permanent deacons for the service of the diocese and one transitional deacon.

“I am also encouraged by the offers made by some religious communities to come to our aid.

“The Marians of the Immaculate Conception, the Holy Cross Fathers and the Marist Fathers all have indicated their interest in increasing the presence they already have here in Maine. In addition, two new religious communities of priests have committed themselves to establishing a presence in Maine: the Society of Our Lady of the Trinity, which has an interest in Native American ministry, and the missionary Apostles of Jesus from Kenya, Africa, who will be helping us in parish ministry.

“Ultimately vocations to the priesthood and to the religious life come from worshipping communities and from families of faith. The more we can strengthen both our families and our parishes, the greater chance there is that a young person will be able to hear God’s call.”

Changes since Vatican II

“I see growth. I really do. We received an awful lot of support from the church in prayer and in faith formation [when he was a child]. One of the greatest supports was the light that came from faith that played such an important part in making moral decisions. To me, that was one of the greatest gifts. … Also, knowing you had a destiny and knowing the road – that I consider a tremendous gift.”

When Vatican II occurred, “I was teaching at St. Anselm’s College [in Manchester, N.H.,] and these were things we’d been talking about and looking forward to – the implementation of what we thought was the best in theological thought of the time. But we moved from a great Latin liturgy and did not have the corresponding English to go with it, especially in some of the hymns. But the doctrine of Vatican II, I just felt, was refreshing. The challenge would be implementing it.”