Bishop Discusses 5th Anniversary, 'Ad Limina,' Virtus

Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde recently sat down with the HERALD to discuss a variety of subjects, including his fifth anniversary as bishop of Arlington and his recent "ad limina" visit with the Holy Father. Following is an edited version of that discussion.

A large part of my role as bishop is to energize Catholics of our diocese to be evangelizers themselves. I am hopeful that my ministry here in the last five years has energized people to want to bring Christ to others, having tasted so beautifully what Christ means to them. My attempts to be out among God’s people, to be present to them in liturgical settings and in other ways is also how I have tried to advance the Good News of Christ and foster unity.

Another aspect of evangelization has been my weekly "Encourage and Teach with Patience" column, in which I have tried to convey the vision I have for this diocese’s growth in Christ.

A fundamental aspect of evangelization is providing a setting for people to hear about Christ, to come to Him, and to deepen their relationship with Him. That is why we have established five new parishes, one new elementary school, one mission, and the diocese has purchased properties for four additional parishes. We are planning two new high schools. Some parishes are looking ahead to enhance their Catholic formation by way of increased catechetical services or new schools.

The "Rooted in Faith — Forward in Hope" capital campaign, the purpose of which was to advance the Good News about the Lord in concrete ways, also falls under the rubric of evangelization. Finally, the diocesan Presbyteral Council has a standing committee on evangelization, which is formulating recommendations as to how we might make evangelization more concrete in the parishes.

I have tried to be out and about around the diocese by celebrating at least two Sunday Masses a month at local parishes, in addition to my schedule at the cathedral and participating in the many special celebrations I attend. We have so many wonderful ministries that are directly impacting lives in our diocese. Parishes are working together, and diocesan ministries are serving the parishes. Our recently reconstituted and majority-layperson Diocesan Pastoral Council is another example of a way in which we are achieving unity in the mission of the diocese.

Unity has also been fostered in a very real way by the participation of our people across the diocese in the "Rooted in Faith — Forward in Hope" campaign. We engaged in consultation and became unified around certain goals at the parish and diocesan level. I have personally heard that many people, in the course of the campaign, got to know one another better and formed a stronger community in their parishes.

Definitely. I think the whole issue of child sexual abuse has, understandably, upset and angered Catholics. We need to find ways to restore trust and unity across the diocese. Here, as in every diocese, there are people who hold strong views on divisive issues. On issues that tend to divide the Church, the guiding question for me has always been, where is the teaching and discipline of the Church on this or that issue? How do we follow more closely the Holy Father and his hope — which is after all ours — for the Church? I think that cuts across every spectrum.

I assured him of our loyalty, affection and prayerful support. I explained to him how we’re growing in so many ways and that we are blessed to see a number of young families coming to church as well as the heritage of faith, which our older people have and pass on to us. We also spoke about how catechesis and Catholic formation advance the mission of the Church. I spoke to him about my four goals for the diocese. He asked, "Are there many young Catholics who participate in the liturgy joyfully?" which I have definitely seen to be true. He was most pleased and interested to hear that we’re growing in our faith.

These are exciting days for the diocese. Since 1999, the number of registered Catholics has climbed 16 percent to more than 391,000 and Catholic school enrollment has increased by 7 percent. What message would you like to give diocesan Catholics as you begin the next five years of your ministry?

The deepest wish I have is one I shared with our priests two weeks ago at our convocation — become saints! Answer God’s call to holiness! That is my wish for all of God’s people in this diocese. Our Holy Father is very clear on this — every pastoral initiative must be set in relationship to holiness. With our growth comes a sense of challenge, excitement and a continual testing of our priorities and mission as a Church. Of course we need new parishes and schools in order to respond to the growth that we’re experiencing and we are planning those. Funding is required as pledges are paid on the "Rooted in Faith — Forward in Hope" campaign and the annual gifts from the Bishop’s Lenten Appeal (BLA) are received. But we also need more vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life. The resources that we have need to be expanded if we are going to match the demands made upon us. This year is our 30th anniversary as a diocese. With that in mind, I hope we can deepen the call to holiness with outreach and evangelization. I want us to be a vibrant community of faith, a beacon of light in a world that so often is in darkness.

I hope that my witness is a source of encouragement and strength for the people of our diocese. It is for the bishop to strengthen people in their faith, so I do not see my pro-life witness as anything extraordinary. I see my pro-life witness first of all as being part and parcel of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus and a faithful priest and bishop. My hope is that it does encourage and strengthen our people to witness to all of life. With this witness have come some very concrete programs. We started Gabriel Project, as a means of assisting pregnant women in need, in 2002, and since then approximately 300 women have been helped through that apostolate. We have also expanded Project Rachel, our post-abortion healing program, which has assisted almost 350 individuals in the past two years.

If we keep integrated prayer, education, witness, and a sense of sacrifice, I think we can make a difference in Northern Virginia — even in the secular community — as we try to show that life is sacred from conception all the way to its end in natural death. That is one way we can be a beacon of light and hope.

I am even more grateful for the bond that unites me to my priests and my goal is to deepen with them their sense of generous service and satisfaction in being a priest. Priests here and throughout our country are in the main very faithful and generous priests in their ministry to the people. With them, I share the pain that the priesthood has been stained by the terrible sins and failures of some. Nonetheless, our priests here and across the country who remain faithful, who work day in and day out without fanfare, are to me a source of great encouragement and hope. At our convocation two weeks ago, we in fact learned that recent studies show that the vast majority of priests are happy to be priests, despite what has happened.

The crisis in trust over the past two years has only made me more aware of how accountable I am both to the Lord and to the people of God for being a faithful servant, a faithful bishop. It has deepened my awareness of how much I need the Lord to supply what I cannot, to let Him work within me, to live a life of prayer and penance in closeness with the Lord.

Every five years, the bishops’ June meeting is not a business meeting, but rather an extended time to gather in prayer, reflection and study. Bishop Wilton Gregory has said that the bishops’ "long planned special assembly seems a providential opportunity for us to imitate the apostles who, at the Lord’s urging, sometimes left their immediate obligations to reflect prayerfully in His presence." We are going to do that, as well as discuss the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People and hear from the bishops’ Task Force on Catholics in Public Life.

No one can replace Msgr. McMurtrie. He was a unique blessing for us and so greatly loved. I believe the Lord will raise up other people to take up the work that he was doing, but they won’t replace him. I still miss him. Sometimes I still think he is going to walk through the door.

I knew Bishop DiLorenzo before he was appointed to Richmond, and was able to welcome him in advance. I prayed for him and congratulated him at his installation. We do have plans to meet regularly and discuss areas of mutual concern and interest. The dioceses of Richmond and Arlington encompass the entire state, so we’re looking forward to working collaboratively.

The Richmond papers indicated that Bishop Walter Sullivan had actually proposed a division of the Diocese of Richmond and discussed it with his priests. Given that Bishop DiLorenzo just arrived, I would say that he would have to evaluate this proposal and, if he thinks that it would be a good recommendation, propose it to the Holy See. For the present, he is making his first priority to get to know the diocese.

We must continue to strengthen our existing child protection efforts, first and foremost by assisting our children’s primary educators — their parents — and other adults who have contact with children as they in turn assist their children in recognizing the potential — and God forbid it should happen — of sexual abuse. In order to create a safe environment, we need to have educational tools. This week we begin a program developed by Virtus and in use in over 75 Catholic dioceses called "Protecting God’s Children." It is a positive, proactive program for adults, which I am confident will provide parents and other adults with the tools to detect the warning signs of abuse, the ways to prevent abuse, the methods of properly reporting suspicions of abuse and responding to allegations of abuse.

Virtus will build upon the already-existing efforts of our diocese to protect our children. Since 1991, we have had seminars every year for employees and volunteers who have contact with children. The safe environment Virtus program will replace those seminars and enable us to eventually replicate next week’s training session in parishes throughout the diocese. It will be much more local and available to parents and others interested. I am very happy that we’ll be able to offer parents the tools to continue doing what they so desire to do — keeping their children safe and having them grow up as a joyful people filled with faith and hope. That is my hope for the Virtus program. You can learn more about their program by going to their Web site at www.virtus.org.

Jennifer Alvaro has served ably in the four months she has overseen the Program of Child Protection and Safety and been our Victim Assistance Coordinator. Since February, Ms. Alvaro has conducted 10 safe environment training programs, created a network of parish liaisons to the Child Protection and Safety program and overseen the recruitment of 35 facilitators for the diocese’s adult safe environment program, "Protecting God’s Children." The responsibilities of the position certainly require a full-time commitment, one that Father Terry Specht will be able to give. Patricia Mudd has served the diocese for over 30 years, and I am grateful for her continued service in this new capacity.

The theme, which I challenged the listeners to weigh skeptically, was "Believing without Belonging?" As I see it, in the whole history of salvation, from His Covenant with the Israelites to the Early Church to the present day, God calls us to a relationship with Him not as isolated individuals, but as members of the community, of the Church. If I am really going to be a believer, I have to do that with other believers. I have to believe and belong. Believing and belonging go together and are inseparable, just as Christ’s two commandments are inseparable: you must love your God, and love your neighbor.

I have said this before — you can not be pro-abortion and a faithful Catholic. It is a contradiction. In our homilies, we ought to say that you cannot uphold abortion and still proclaim yourself to be a faithful Catholic. For the life of me, I do not understand how anyone can deny that there is a human life present at the very beginning, especially now, with the advances in neonatology. We have to present the teachings of the Church and part of that is respect for life from its very beginning. Our opposition to abortion is not merely a personal opinion. Our opposition is rooted in the natural law as well as in the Church’s teachings from the very beginning.

That said, I think we would all do well to ponder St. Paul’s words to the Church in Corinth, "Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord" (1 Cor 11:27). In one sense, no one is ever worthy. But we have to ask, "Am I properly disposed?" When we receive communion, we are standing before God. Receiving the Eucharist involves an examination of conscience — for all of us, not just those in political life. If I am not in a state of grace, then I should stay away from the sacrament until I receive absolution in the sacrament of penance. Dialogue is so important in this issue and prayer and penance are absolutely a necessity.

At the priests’ convocation two weeks ago, I told the priests of the diocese that I am looking forward to hearing the progress report from the bishops’ Task Force on Catholics in Public Life. I also told them that I do not think we should invite speakers to our Catholic functions who are pro-abortion, any more than we would invite a speaker to our Catholic functions who is a proclaimed racist. While every bishop leads his own diocese, I think it is very important that whatever we do be done in a unified way.

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