HOMEPAGE for this issue: July 27, 2011 // Download PDF Version // Click to install/update Adobe Reader on your computer

Archbishop’s move poignant for him, faithful

By Roxanne King

The Sunday evening “Archbishop’s Mass” at the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception typically draws a good crowd that includes many young adults eager to hear the archbishop’s homily. But on July 24, the first Sunday after the announcement that the pope has named Archbishop Charles Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., archbishop–designate of Philadelphia, the 800-seat cathedral was filled nearly to capacity.

Archbishop-designate Chaput, 66, who since his appointment is now diocesan administrator of the archdiocese, noted the larger than usual congregation at the start of his homily.

“I hope it’s not because you came to say goodbye, because I’m not leaving until the first week in September,” he said, eliciting laughter. “It’s very hard for me to say goodbye so I don’t want to start doing that now or there will be too many tears—I’ll be dried up by the time I leave town. Let’s wait until the last Sunday to say goodbye in a formal way.”

That the impending move is emotional for the man who served as the Denver Archdiocese’s archbishop for 14 years has been clear since his appointment was announced in Philadelphia on July 19. There, he had to briefly pause to collect himself during his remarks.

“Leaving a place is easy,” he said during the press conference, “but leaving the people who have shaped me with their friendship, opened their homes to me and welcomed me into the happiness and sorrows of their lives—that’s very, very hard.”

On July 20 at a news conference in Denver, Archbishop-designate Chaput shared that when he had celebrated his regular Sunday evening Mass at the cathedral a week and a half prior, he realized it was his last one there as the archbishop of Denver.

“No one knew it but me,” he said. “It was a very emotional moment for me.”

A Kansas native, he was ordained an Order of Friars Minor Capuchin priest on Aug. 29, 1970. He served as a seminary instructor and spiritual director in Herman, Pa., then as communications director for the Capuchin Province of St. Augustine in Pittsburgh before coming to Colorado to serve as pastor of Holy Cross Parish in Thornton in 1977 and vicar provincial for the Capuchin Province of Mid-America. In 1980 he was appointed to other leadership positions for the Capuchins before being ordained bishop of Rapid City, S.D., on July 26, 1988.

A member of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Tribe, he became the first American Indian archbishop when Pope John Paul II appointed him archbishop of Denver in 1997. He will be installed archbishop of the Philadelphia Archdiocese on Sept. 8, succeeding Cardinal Justin Rigali, 76. Until then, Cardinal Rigali, who is now retired, is serving as diocesan administrator of Philadelphia.

The archbishop-designate will be leaving a diocese of a half-million Catholics for one three times as large that is facing criticism for its handling of sexual abuse allegations. In recent years, Archbishop Chaput has dealt with cases of clergy sexual abuse in the Denver Archdiocese.

At the news conference in Philadelphia, he committed himself to the challenges ahead, promising that “No bishop will try harder to help persons who have been hurt by the sins of the past, or work harder to strengthen and encourage our priests and renew the hearts of our people.”

During his tenure in Denver, the archdiocese has thrived with evangelical movements and initiatives and with vocations to the priesthood. Archbishop Chaput established St. John Vianney Theological Seminary and confirmed Redemptoris Mater Archdiocesan Missionary Seminary, which was erected by his predecessor.

Since 1998, 71 men have been ordained from the two seminaries. Nearly half of the diocesan priests in active ministry for the archdiocese were ordained by him.
He was instrumental in the establishment of the Augustine Institute graduate school, in the women’s educational initiative ENDOW (Educating on the Nature and Dignity of Women) and in the founding of the national Catholic Association of Latino Leaders (CALL). He served on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom for three years and served the Holy Father as apostolic visitor to U.S. seminaries, to the Diocese of Toowoomba, Australia, and to the Legion of Christ.

A member of numerous boards and committees, the archbishop also authored two books: “Living the Catholic Faith: Rediscovering the Basics” and “Render Unto Caesar: Serving the Nation by Living Our Catholic Beliefs in Political Life.” In 2009 he was awarded the Canterbury Medal for his work advancing religious freedom.

Attendees at the Archbishop’s Mass Sunday evening said Denver’s loss is Philadelphia’s gain.

Matt Bigelow, 22, a parishioner at St. Thomas More in Centennial, said his attendance at the Mass was due in part to the archbishop’s upcoming move.

“I’m trying to get in all the Masses of his I can before he leaves,” Bigelow said, adding that he normally attends the Archbishop’s Mass about once a month.

“Philadelphia will be blessed to have Archbishop Chaput,” asserted Bigelow, echoing the comments of others.

Holy Ghost parishioner and recent convert Nicholas Haberman, 30, who attended the Mass with his wife and infant, agreed.

“I hope he becomes a cardinal,” said Haberman. “If so, he will be the first Native American ordained a cardinal—that would be amazing. I’ll keep that in my prayers.”

Cathedral parishioner and extraordinary minister of the Eucharist Sharon Bauserman, 41, said she was pleased for the archbishop.

“Of course we’ll miss him,” Bauserman said, “but we’re happy knowing it’s God’s work he’ll be doing.”

PHOTO ESSAY:
Chaput: From Capuchin priest to Philly archbishop-designate

The priestly ministry of Archbishop-designate Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., is depicted below