Bishop Coyne headed to Burlington

Rocco, as usual, has the first word:

The Pope is slated to flip Bishop Christopher Coyne – the Boston-born, 56 year-old auxiliary of Indianapolis and incoming chair of USCCB Communications – back to New England as the tenth bishop of Burlington and head of Vermont’s 125,000-member statewide church.

Confirmed by two Whispers ops, the move fittingly places the US church’s most digitally-engaged prelate in a charge with a booming tech economy – and the young adults who come with it – but likewise drops him into a church still reeling from the fallout of an $18 million sex-abuse settlement, preceded by a painful drip of revelations and a fraught legal strategy on the scandals’ response.

The global church’s first blogging priest to be named a bishop on his 2011 transfer to Indiana, the energetic, oft-irreverent daily voice on Facebook and Twitter was a last-minute addition to last month’s Baltimore ballot for the head of the bench’s outreach efforts – a sprawling apparatus that encompasses the conference’s publishing, PR and social-media entities as well as Catholic News Service – going on to take the post by a narrow margin.

Read more.

Early Monday morning, the Diocese of Burlington issued a press release announcing its new bishop. 

And the bishop has posted his own statement, fittingly, on his blog. I was struck by his opening lines, in which he refers to the pope as a “brother”:

I thank the Holy Father for the brother’s trust he’s shown in calling me to a ministry of service to this local church, and to the whole community of our “Green Mountain State.”  I come to you ready to commit myself completely to the work of announcing the good news of Jesus Christ: He who is “the way, the truth, and the life.”

He also waxes eloquently about his time in Indiana:

For a number of years, I have been writing and talking about the “New Evangelization”: the call of Pope Saint John Paul II, Pope Benedict, and now Pope Francis to Catholics to re-engage ourselves into a deep, personal relationship with Jesus Christ, from which we “go out” and evangelize those who are not within “our doors.”  In this spirit, I take these words of Pope Francis very much to heart: “We must restore hope to young people, help the old, be open to the future, spread love. Be poor among the poor. We need to include the excluded and preach peace.”

The Holy Father has urged the priests of the world to go out “into the sheep” and get to not only “know their smell” but to take it on as well: “The shepherd should have the smell of the sheep.”  That’s a rather earthy image – for a dairy state like Vermont, it might need to be adjusted a bit.  But as someone who, over his time in Indiana, went to tractor-pulling contests, “showed” a pig at one county fair, ate a deep-fried Twinkie at another county fair, gave the invocation at the Indy 500 three times, ate my fair share of fried chicken – and the four starches that always accompany it – and attended a number of parish “turkey shoots,” I can tell you that I’m ready to experience what Vermont can offer.  And since Indiana is a rather flat state, I’m also looking forward to hitting the slopes again.

It’s been a while since I’ve done that, but it’s just one mountain I face in Vermont – the other, the far bigger one, is growing into to being a diocesan bishop worthy of this mission and the people I’ve been sent to know, love and serve.  Whether on the powder or as your pastor, I know there will be times when, to use Pope Francis’ words, I will “take a spill” or “make a mess.”  And when I do, I’d ask that you could help me get back on my feet.

A Good Samaritan on the trails of Stowe probably wouldn’t know he’s doing that for the bishop – at least, I hope he wouldn’t! But regardless of the circumstances, whenever we reach out to lift each other up and help somebody else along, we become an even better people who walk together in faith.  So trusting in the Lord’s help, let us begin.

Please know of my prayers for you, and if you would, please help me with yours.

May Jesus Christ be praised in all things – now and forever.  A Blessed and Merry Christmas to you and yours!

Bishop Coyne gave a memorable homily at the Catholic Media Convention in Indianapolis two years ago, outlining how to engage with the world through the digital media:

As one who is missioned with you, I would like to offer a four simple points  of advice that arise from my time as spokesperson for the Archdiocese of Boston and my present role as a bishop that I have found helpful in directing the way in which I use public communications.  These are not exhaustive or hard or fast rules.  They are more musing than anything else.  But I find them helpful in fulfilling the prophetic role of being a good Catholic communicator.

First, always take the high road.  By this I mean, always be polite, never respond in kind, do not making anymore enemies than one already has in these matters, and most importantly don’t send an angry email written completely in capital letters until you’ve slept on it overnight.  Always taking the high road places us in a higher place.  I really think this is the way of Christ.  I’m reminded of yesterday’s gospel in which Jesus said, “when someone strikes you, give them your other cheek.”  There is already too much invective and anger out there.  Let’s not add to it.  In addition, by taking the high road one avoids allowing those opposed to one’s position from going on the “ad hominum.”  For example, when an American bishop responded with a somewhat sarcastic column of his own to an editorial in America magazine that criticized the USCCB for its position on the HHS mandate, the response was immediate but not in the way he hoped.  Instead of responding to the very valid points he raised, critics almost unanimously chastised him for the tone of his response with comments like, “Isn’t it terrible that a bishop would respond with sarcasm.”

That’s just for starters.  Check out more. 

During that conference, I had the privilege of appearing on a panel with him and a few other folks to discuss the topic of blogging.  Seen below: Bishop Coyne; Your Humble Blogger; Msgr. Paul Tighe (secretary of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications); Rocco Palmo; and Elizabeth Scalia, with Catholic Press Association president Greg Erlandson at the podium.