PORTLAND, Maine — The state’s Catholic diocese will continue to be administered by Bishop Richard J. Malone even after he takes the reins of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Buffalo, N.Y., next month, and the man who has advocated the church’s positions in the halls of the State House for 20 years will retire next year.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland announced Tuesday that Pope Benedict XVI has appointed Malone its apostolic administrator, effective Aug. 10, the day Malone is to be installed as head of the Buffalo diocese. Malone will continue to serve Catholics in Maine and western New York until the pope names a new bishop for the Diocese of Portland.
The appointment will allow Malone to continue “the church’s educational leadership as the referendum approaches which attempts to redefine marriage,” a press release from the diocese said. The bishop earlier this year released a pastoral letter on marriage and has said the church opposes a Nov. 6 referendum that would allow same-sex couples to marry in Maine.
Malone also has said the Catholic Church would play an educational role in the campaign to defeat the referendum but would not contribute to it financially as it did in 2009, when the diocese gave $500,000 to the campaign that successfully repealed a same-sex marriage law.
On Tuesday, the diocese also announced the retirement in March 2013 of Marc Mutty, director of public policy. Mutty has worked for the diocese for 28 years and was employed by Catholic Charities Maine before that.
“I have enjoyed serving the church for all these years and have found the work to be challenging but always personally rewarding,” Mutty said in the press release announcing his retirement. “It is, however, time for me to pursue new challenges and have more time available for family and friends. I know that I will be leaving the office in good and capable hands.”
Suzanne Lafreniere has been named associate director of public policy and will assume responsibility as director when Mutty retires, according to the press release.
“I am grateful to Marc for his many years of hard work and faithful service, especially as he promoted the Church’s teachings of justice by working to protect the dignity of the individual person at all stages of life and the common good of society,” Malone said in the press release.
The Office of Public Policy advocates for the church’s public policy positions before the Legislature and other civil officials, the press release noted. It represents the church in working with government to shape laws and policies that pursue social justice, respect for life and the common good by applying the principles of Catholic social teaching to critical issues of the day and encouraging citizen involvement in the legislative process.
people still believe this corrupt hocus pocus?
Sorry, but Catholic teaching is the real food you need for the salvation of souls. Those teachings come from Jesus Christ himself, and he meant for all humanity to learn and abide by them. I’m sure Christ is pretty disappointed with most of humanity these days, though.
He might have been referring to certain political teachings of the Catholic Church. Interesting that the Church will limit it’s opposition to the referendum by teaching, but know money. I’ll bet that “teaching” comes with strings attached and a large club.
Oh, and they may think so but the Catholic Church has no monopoly on the teaching of Christ.
They won’t have to declare it like 2009.Just send it off in a big bag to their own Sheldon Adelson-voila!
You seem like just the sort of person I have been looking for. You see I have some land I am looking to sell. It is a great ocean front lot in Arizona…
P.S. I am pretty sure what he is most annoyed by is that you have been getting his name wrong all these years…
http://www.motifake.com/image/demotivational-poster/small/0801/yeshua-religion-demotivational-poster-1201664031.jpg
That dwindling crowd won’t have any $$ left for your land.They got hoodwinked for years by all the TV priests buying Gulfstreams and having giant houses.Fools.
Have to respectfully disagree, Heis. I left the church several years ago, when I woke up and finally realized that the “real food” I need is and can always be my faith itself. I have bypassed what was helping to actually destroy my faith-the Catholic church. Sadly,it is no longer the all-loving, all-accepting church of my youth.
And should we still believe in freedom of speech even though people say such corrupt hocus pocus?
Thanks, Heistheone, for enlightening those of us who don’t share your beliefs. And what did Christ teach about perverted priests who abuse children? And about the silence of those bishops who shifted so many of them from parish to parish so the priests would be able to indulge themselves with new crops of children?
They teach that to turn in those priests is against the canon of the church, so basically to turn in a pedo priest is a sin.
1000 likes.Anyone who threw perfectly useful money in the collection plate is just as guilty as soon as the first claims were made and they didn’t leave that nest of vipers.
I’m not a big fan of the child molester protector folks at this point. Here’s to looking forward to the collapse of these aged-old religious traditions. They have not served us well.
Once religion is completely eliminated only then will humanity become successful beyond imagining.The pedos got a free pass in the media while some guy without connections gets screwed.
We just can’t get rid of this guy.
This guy brings shame to the Catholic church. Half a million spent on political donations? Disgusting.
So now the politics of the Church will be just another out of State effort telling Mainers how to be, but not respecting our needs if it is inconvenient to their more important internationalist agenda.