Baltimore, Md., Nov 11, 2019 / 11:35 am
Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, outgoing president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, highlighted Monday his experience leading the conference and detailing his personal growth over the last three years as his presidential term comes to an end.
"My service as president has been a continual reminder that, indeed, 'the light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it,'" DiNardo said at the US bishops' autumn general assembly in Baltimore Nov. 11. While "our present culture can seem overtaken by various ideological or political divisions," bishops and other followers of Christ need to be different, he affirmed.
"Follow a simple truth: 'God is always courteous,'" said DiNardo. "Let us be courteous."
DiNardo remarked that while his tenure was during the "difficult times within our own Church," that the bishops must continue to seek justice and to work for "relationships that are ordered in the right way--that is, towards the salvation of souls, including our own."
DiNardo presided over the USCCB after it came to light that former cardinal Theodore McCarrick sexually abused minors and seminarians on many occasions, as well as during the release of a grand jury investigation in Pennsylvania. Other states have since begun grand jury investigations.
Properly ordered relationships, said the cardinal, exclude any trace of clericalism. An ordained man cannot act "as if he is a lord and master" over others, he said.
"The privilege of a cleric is to be a humble servant to all," he said. "Justice demands that those who are shepherds should lead from in front, as courage requires, and from behind, as humility requires, going to those who are lost."
The cardinal said that his experience meeting with victims of sexual abuse as president of the conference was one that "forever changed" his life.
"When too many within the Church sought to keep them in the darkness, they refused to be relegated to the shadows," said DiNardo. "Their witness brought help to countless fellow survivors. It fueled the resolve of my brother bishops to respond with pastoral support and prevention programs."
Sexual abuse victims empowered the bishops "with the knowledge needed to respond," said DiNardo.
"We must never stop striving for justice and working unceasingly to prevent any future abuse from happening," he said. "The measures we approved last June are a beginning of this renewed striving, but they are only a beginning – more needs to and will be done."
"Traveling on your behalf these past three years, it was a privilege to learn from so many people along the way," said DiNardo.
He spoke about his time visiting the border detention centers, and witnessing the faith of the children who were detained and separated from their parents, as well as his experience with other bishops visiting refugees and volunteers at respite centers.
"I met dozens of children who called upon their Catholic faith and the firm knowledge that Christ and His Church would be present with them. Along with my brother bishops, we went because Jesus was already there. We followed our shepherd," said DiNardo. He extended an invitation to all present to "share our journey of solidarity with migrants and refugees."
DiNardo said that workers at respite centers, who provided medical care and other needs for people at the border, were "doing God's work," as were people who worked at pregnancy centers. He praised the work of pregnancy centers, as well as public policy advocates seeking to change the country's healthcare system.
"The continued fight to defend unborn children is one of the most significant things we do," said DiNardo. "And it will remain so as long as the most innocent lives are left unprotected."
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The cardinal's successor as USCCB president will be elected Nov. 12. The bishops are almost certain to choose Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles, who is currently vice president of the conference.
