NEWS FEATURE: New Catholic bishops’ head _ shy but steadfast in quest for social justice

c. 1998 Religion News Service HOUSTON _ The man elected as the new president of the nation’s Catholic bishops is so self-effacing that _ ignoring history and his own popularity _ just days before the vote he even told his brother his election was completely uncertain. Bishop Joseph A. Fiorenza of Houston, 67, spiritual leader […]

c. 1998 Religion News Service

HOUSTON _ The man elected as the new president of the nation’s Catholic bishops is so self-effacing that _ ignoring history and his own popularity _ just days before the vote he even told his brother his election was completely uncertain.

Bishop Joseph A. Fiorenza of Houston, 67, spiritual leader of Houston-area Catholics for nearly 14 years, Tuesday (Nov. 17) easily outdistanced the other nine nominees to become the new president of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops.


Formerly conference secretary, Fiorenza has served as conference vice president for the past three years and replaces Cleveland Bishop Anthony Pilla as head of the prelates’ national organization. His election was never in doubt.”The vice president is practically always elected president the next time around,”said the Rev. Thomas J. Reese of New York, author of”A Flock of Shepherds,”a book on the bishops and the conference.

Organized in 1966, the bishops’ conference sets policy for the 60 million-member American church and represents its interests with Pope John Paul II in Rome. Conservatives have taken it to task for being too vocal in American public life; liberals have condemned it for not taking stronger stands.

Fiorenza will be the first bishop overseeing a Southern or Southwestern diocese to become its top elected leader.

But it also puts the tall, soft-spoken man who prefers to work behind the scenes in the public eye more than he might wish.”He is one of the quiet leaders of the American church,” said Monsignor Vincent M. Rizzotto, a close friend since he and Fiorenza attended seminary together, and now pastor of St. Cecelia’s Catholic Church in west Houston.

As a church leader, Fiorenza has made many friends, rarely getting visibly involved on one side or the other in the sometimes heated social or theological battles that at times divide the nearly 300 bishops.

Fiorenza was ordained to the priesthood in 1954 and has quietly worked his way up the ladder of church authority, serving as a priest in Houston and in the 1970s as chancellor, or administrator of the Galveston-Houston diocese.

He was named bishop of San Angelo, Texas in 1979, where he served until coming to Galveston-Houston in 1985.


Through the years, he has gained a reputation for being quiet, low-key, compassionate and cautious, lending his name to worthwhile causes, but avoiding controversy in church or community life.

After 44 years as a priest, Fiorenza said he still finds it hard to walk into a room full of people. Celebrating Mass before thousands is much easier.”I think it (shyness) comes from the fact that I grew up very poor,”he said in an interview.”We always had enough food to eat, thank God. But I grew up with the clothes handed down to me from older cousins. And my father was a very shy man. He didn’t speak much at all. Just worked.” Fiorenza has followed a similar path, steering a wary course through the rough waters of today’s church. In this diocese, Fiorenza has encouraged laity to take leadership roles.

Fiorenza’s critics accuse him of not pushing hard enough in Rome and at home for changes supported by liberal Catholics and the broader culture. That list includes extending ordination to women and married men and liberalizing church policies on birth control and divorce and remarriage.

But many give the bishop high marks for his track record on civil rights and social justice issues.

He advocated fairer policies and greater aid to homeless people in Houston, chaired the national bishops’ committee for the Campaign for Human Development _ the bishops’ multimillion dollar anti-poverty agency _ and has been recognized for his charitable works by Associated Catholic Charities.

The difference seems to be a matter of style but the substance goes way back.


In 1964, Fiorenza marched with other young clergy for racial justice in the famed Selma to Montgomery, Ala., march, a time he recalls as”a historic moment”in which religious leaders needed”to help bring pressure to grant the right to vote to blacks here in the South”and to”prevent violence on the marchers”by the Alabama state police.”I don’t think we’ve had those issues so dramatically presented to us since then,”Fiorenza said.

His list of concerns for the next century includes providing decent housing and health care for all people, and opposing capital punishment and abortion. He would like to unite oft-divided Catholics on the last two issues because, he said, they both recognize the value of human life, he said.

The Galveston-Houston diocese Fiorenza oversees _ the ninth largest in the nation with an estimated 1.2 million Catholics, 45 percent of whom are Hispanic _ is marked by rapid growth and increasing ethnic diversity.

Its diversity even shapes Fiorenza’s private residence, decorated in muted greens and earthy colors as low-key as the bishop. On the table next to a favorite chair is a bird-shaped letter-opener, a gift from Guatemalan Catholics, which he uses to open his mail. A tree sculpture, made of ebony and walnut, sits in front of the fireplace. Nearby are small dolls from Korea and a primitive, bright-colored Indian boat, both gifts from local Catholics.

Its ethnic diversity reflects Houston, Fiorenza said, predicting Catholicism will be more like this diocese after the year 2000. Such change means a great need for more new buildings, renovated old ones, more priests, more deacons and more lay leadership, Fiorenza said.”I’m still convinced that God is not going to abandon the church,”Fiorenza said.

After a mild stroke 18 months ago, his doctors say the bishop suffers no major after-effects, he said. Fiorenza said he has tried to slow down, but spends most weekends visiting diocesan churches and cooks most of the meals he eats at home. His weekday routine includes celebrating Mass daily in a private chapel or at the chancery. To relax, he reads biographies, and favors the Psalms for private devotions.”We can’t prognosticate the future,”he said when asked about declining vocations to the priesthood.”Whether there will come a time when they will ordain married men, that may happen sometime in the future in order to properly minister to the large number of people that we have.”


DEA END HOLMES

Donate to Support Independent Journalism!

Donate Now!