Christianity
Archbishop Knifes Bishop
Don't turn your back on Omaha's George Lucas, or show any vulnerability
News from the Catholic Diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska. Late last year, Bishop James Conley announced that he was taking a medical leave of absence to get treatment for depression and anxiety. Archbishop George Lucas of Omaha took over as temporary apostolic administrator, until Conley returned.
Well, Conley is back — but Lucas has done something dastardly. A reader sent me this document that Archbishop Lucas passed around to priests:
Whoa! He makes Conley out to be fragile and broken. “Comfortable in familiar surroundings,” going to spend time with Mother, and so forth. I am reliably told by a Catholic source that this is not true about Conley’s condition — that after treatment, he’s recovered.
The reader who sent that to me writes:
Bishop Conley took a brave stand in getting himself the help he needed when he did. Despite being ready to return to the saddle , Archbishop Lucas appears to be doing his all to stop him. Not content with running the bishop down to his clergy in his absence, he’s now writing around to insinuate that Conley is a shattered man, when nothing could be further from the truth.He’s even gone to the nuncio to try to block him ever getting back to work, even with a clean bill of health. It seems he thinks that being frank about struggling with a mental health issue is a disqualifying offense — perhaps he’d prefer bishops in pain just do the decent thing and drink themselves to death in silence.It seems that, at least in Lucas’s estimation, there’s no road back for people who ask for help — what a great example to set at a time when priests are already ducking the nuncio’s calls and they can’t find people willing to be a bishop.Of course, a cynic might note Lucas would be first in line to pick a replacement, and can probably bank on the nuncio siding with him as the local archbishop. What’s one less good bishop after all?
UPDATE: A number of you have said that the judgment of the reader on Abp Lucas is not fair based only on the text provided. I read the Lucas letter like the reader did, and I know the reader as a reliable source. Nevertheless, it is possible that the reader is (and I am) being unjust toward Abp Lucas. I look forward to hearing from more people in Lincoln who have direct knowledge of the matter.
I should also say that I like Bishop Conley, though I believe he did not handle the scandal in Lincoln very well. He did not cause it — it was something he inherited — but he didn’t deal with it rightly. Nevertheless, I believe him to be a good man, and I don’t like to see him suffer.
UPDATE.2: Plus, I hate to see a man in power who admitted he needed help, and got it, made to look like a weakling. Maybe I’m overinterpreting this. It looks bad to me, though.
UPDATE.3: Father Damien Zuerlein comments:
Wow. You should know Archbishop Lucas before you make such judgements against him. That letter is simply the way Archbishop Lucas speaks and he truly means no harm in what he is saying. Do you really think this man is power hungry or that he is a bad bishop? I think you owe him an apology. I am a priest of the Archdiocese of Omaha and while I have not always agreed with the decisions that the Archbishop has made, he has always made them in the best interest of the Church and not for some personal agenda. I think he would quickly turn the diocese back over to Conley once he is given permission to do so. You should remove this post.
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