CBS 2 [Vatican City]
May 16, 2006
http://cbs2chicago.com/local/local_story_136085422.html
(CBS) JOLIET, Ill. The bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet said Tuesday morning that he was stepping down because of his age and not because of allegations of sexual abuse by priests in the diocese.
The Vatican on Tuesday said Pope Benedict XVI has appointed Monsignor James Peter Sartain bishop in Joliet. Sartain is currently the bishop in Little Rock, Ark. Sartain will replace Bishop Joseph Imesch, who like all bishops must resign when he turns 75.
Imesch will turn 75 on June 21. He was ordained in December of 1956 and has been bishop in Joliet since August of 1979.
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Bishop Joseph Imesch announced his retirement Tuesday, saying his resignation is due to approaching age 75. Photo by the CBS |
The Joliet diocese has been under fire recently following allegations of sexual abuse by priests.
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Monsignor James Peter Sartain Photo by the CBS |
In announcing his resignation, Imesch said, "It certainly has nothing to do with the sex abuse crisis. I'll be 75. That's the determining issue."
He added that he wrote to the Vatican in November 2004 saying he was close to retirement, well before the abuse issue took center stage.
Imesch said he felt he had been portrayed negatively, and, "Anybody who has written me (about abuse issues), I have offered to meet with them, and a good number of them have come in and have left with an entirely different opinion."
Imesch added, "I'm comfortable with what I tried to do, maybe not always the best, but like all of you I do the best I can."
He also said despite the allegations that have surfaced against some priests in the diocese, he held most of the priests in high regard.
"I think despite the abuse by some of our priests, we have an incredible group of priests who continue to carry on a ministry during a very difficult time," Imesch said. "They give of themselves very generously and I am very proud of all of them."
A class-action lawsuit was filed against the diocese in February seeking to force church officials to release the names of all priests and other employees accused of molesting children since 1950.
The diocese later posted on its Web site the names of priests who have been accused – with credible or substantiated allegations – of sexually abusing minors while the priests were serving in the diocese.
In a letter announcing the list of accused priests in March, Imesch apologized for his handling of a sexual abuse case that allegedly took place in the diocese in the 1960s.
Sartain, who served as the bishop in Little Rock for six years, said he would work to ensure that abuse did not happen in the diocese.
"I have not yet studied the Joliet policy, but I can tell you what I would do is follow it."
He added: "I was aware the bishop had recently published a list… I simply would have to know the full gamut of what we're talking about here."
He also discussed abuse issues at his diocese in Arkansas.
"In the 54 years in Arkansas, there were 500 some-odd priests who served in dioceses of Little Rock during that time," Sartain said. "There was some 11 priests we discovered who had been accused of sexual abuse of a minor, and that was about 2 percent."
As to his upcoming work in Joliet, Sartain said, "My first task is to try to be a good bishop, to get to know the clergy and the people of the diocese and to know our history."
"It certainly has nothing to do with the sex abuse crisis," Imesch said. "I'll be 75. That's the determining issue."
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