Richmond's new ordinary, Bp. Francis DiLorenzo, is being transferred in from Honolulu.
Before his service there, he was an auxiliary in Scranton, and if the rumor mill is right, he was, alas, not very sympathetic to the traditionalist movements in that diocese.
But that was ten years ago, and during those ten years in Hawaii, commenters at Amy's and Dom's sites say, he improved the discipline of the clergy in what had been a somewhat lax diocese. Congratulations to everybody in Richmond.
It will takes years for Richmond to get back to liturgical normality... er... I guess normal in Richmond is dancing bears, so -
It will take years for Richmond to get back in line with the guidelines in the GIRM.
He could not possibly be worse than his predecessor, unless his last name is "Gumbleton" or "Kung".
JS,
Hey! Who told you about the bears! I thought that was a secret! To such shame broadcast to the world...:::sob:::
Eric,
As someone who lives in the Richmond diocese, all I can say is Amen to that.
BTW, Cacciaguida blogged on DiLorenzo's appointment here:
http://cacciaguida.blogspot.com/2004_03_01_cacciaguida_archive.html#108076494403804572
Well, I lived in the Richmond diocese and was received into the church under its authority, so I shouldn't be too hard on it. However, Richmond had nothing to do with my conversion, and if my only contact with Catholicism was with the Catholic campus ministry at my university, I doubt I would have investigated the Church's claims about itself.
It appears that most of the comments about Bishop DiLorenzo are not really about him but more about Bishop Walter Sullivan, who we here in the Diocese of Richmond have loved extremely since he became Bishop of Richmond 25 years ago. Bishop Sullivan is a well-meaning, outward spoken man who speaks as Pope John Paul does about social issues that are important to human beings, e.g. abolition of the death penalty, elimination of war as a solution toward peace, follower of the nonviolent Jesus, respect for women, respect for all life from the womb to the tomb. Not all bishops can live up to his outstanding record toward life.
Eric Johnson, Where did you go to school!? My girlfriend and I recently had the same experience regarding campus ministry...we had to travel to Arlington to get her confirmed because the (female) minister thought that the community at CCM wouldn't be a good fit for her and wasn't going to let her be confirmed. Thank the Lord the folks in Arlington remember that there are a billion other Catholics in the World, and that the whole Church is our real 'community.'