The RC Diocese of Allentown Pennsylvania is getting a new temporary bishop tomorrow. He is John Oliver Barres and will be installed in that Protestant Church looking Cathedral of St. Catherine of Sienna.
I say temporary because let’s face it folks, he is 48, has an MBA from NYU. This is his first Bishop’s assignment. He is not going to get buried in Allentown. He is obviously being groomed for bigger and better things in his and the RC Church’s future.
They got rid of 47 churches right before he arrived. He is freshly assigned from his duties as Chancellor in the Wilmington Delaware Diocese. If you look at timelines, they put Cullen’s retirement on hold for over a year while they sorted out the church property fire sale while the young chancellor could finish filing all those many, 150 or more, Clergy abuse cases under the recent two year window of extending the statute of limitations on those crimes in Delaware. That is what diocese chancelleries do – handle all the legal paperwork of the diocese?
Monsignor may have only xeroxed the legal paperwork that got handed over to church lawyers. Do you think he actually read any of it? Or participated in the sorting of abuse lawsuits into categories, easily resolved, disputed, to be negotiated, to be settled out of court, to be sent to trial etc.? I am a cynic. Forgive me folks.
So like I said, this only looks like a temp assignment for the new green MBA bishop. Archbishop of some bigger American city is likely next.
Of course, maybe Allentown is a potential hotspot or just a convenient landing spot for Barres. Recently, there were whispers of rumors that the Pennsylvania Legislature might adopt a similar to Delaware, but only for one year, extension of the statute of limitations on clergy abuse. But they were only whispers. But if that should happen, Bishop John would be mighty handy to handle any legal paperwork up there in Allentown and for the Province of Philadelphia (all of Pennsylvania).
Of course I don’t think there is much substance to the rumors that the Allentown Diocese is going to be absorbed into Scranton. But one nevers knows, do one?
Congratulations on your new temporary job assignment in Allentown, Bishop John Oliver Barres.
Meet the new boss..same as the old boss..lyrics lifted from The Who's song.." Won't Get Fooled Again"! What has the Emperor Constantine brought upon the world stage..this thing called the catholic/state of Rome imperial religon? The rewrite of the Holy words of Jesus into this is/was criminal! When is the Holy Church of Rome going to apologize for all the hell it has unleashed on the world? God have mercy on them for they were utterly bereft of any pure grace or hope or forgiveness for ages upon ages.
ReplyDeleteMy own faiths Luther only took a few small steps away from the madness and clung to the doctrines and creeds of Rome. Which religon to choose? What if I pick the wrong one? What a load of crap! Faith w/o works is bull. You got to put your money where your mouth is cause talk is cheap! He died for ALL of us already..what don't they get? God is all powerful and all loving..that's good enough for me..
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