Bishop LaValley takes helm in Ogdensburg

For the first time in sixty years, the Bishop of the Diocese of Ogdensburg is a local:

Bishop Terry LaValley grew up in Mooers Forks and following his formal installation on Friday will lead one of the region’s most important institutions.

The Watertown Daily Times praised his selection in an editorial, arguing that Bishop LaValley “comes to the office better prepared with a personal familiarity of the diocese than any of his recent predecessors.”

Make no mistake:  The importance and influence of the Diocese extends well beyond the churches and Knights of Columbus halls.

Especially at a time when state and local agencies are cutting back sharply on the services they provide to needy and struggling families, the Church’s work is crucial.

Bishop LaValley can also be expected to take an active role in some of the most important civic discussions of our time, from marriage rights for gays and lesbians to the debate over legal abortion.

In covering Friday’s historic ceremony, newspapers took note of the fact that he takes the helm at a time of great challenge for the church.

The Malone Telegram observed (no link available) that Bishop LaValley “is the fifth bishop to serve the diocese since 1990.”

There is widespread hope that his tenure — Bishop LaValley is just 54 years old — will be longer than the average of four years of recent bishops.

The Telegram also points out that the Diocese currently has “about 67 priests, with an average age of 60 [to] serve 105 parishes and 111,638 Catholics in the diocese.”

That means approximately one aging priest for every 1,600 Roman Catholics in a far-flung rural area.

Obviously, the shortage of priests and nuns is approaching crisis stage.  No one bishop can sort out this global quandary, but Bishop LaValley will be charged with finding ways to boost priest recruitment locally.

He will also be forced to wrestle with the continuing fall-out from the global sex-abuse scandal.  At a press conference on Friday, the new Bishop said that a great deal of progress has been made, according to the Times.

Bishop LaValley stressed that the harm and pain caused by the sex abuse scandal “will not go away.”

“By virtue of our own failings,” he said, today the U.S. Catholic churches have created model policies and programs, “not only for the church, but for other institutions.”

But he said he hopes that the healing will continue and stressed that the church has worked hard to create a “safe environment for children and families.”

But perhaps the greatest challenge facing the Diocese will be bridging divides between rank and file members — who are increasingly liberal on many issues, especially on matters of human sexuality — and a priesthood that is increasingly conservative.

None of these are insurmountable challenges. On the contrary, wrestling with complex moral and social issues is one reason the Church exists.