For a good while now, you've known that the founding head of the new Vatican super-office for Laity, Family and Life would be an American... and indeed it is – at Roman Noon this Wednesday, the Pope named Kevin Farrell, the 68 year-old head of Dallas' 1.3 member fold since 2007, as the first Prefect of the combined entity, which officially launches on September 1st.
Now the ranking US prelate in the Roman Curia – where his brother, Brian, has long served as bishop-secretary of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity – even as the move short-circuits the long-held wish for the nation's sixth-largest city to be elevated as seat of a third province in Texas, the Vatican statement announcing the move conspicuously did not include Farrell's elevation to the rank of archbishop, which has always been customary practice for appointments of this kind.
While the pick of the Dublin-born ex-Legionary of Christ might come as a surprise in some quarters, the threads explaining it can be gleaned on several fronts.
First, and most crucially, while no one would see the low-key, driven Irishman as some kind of wild-haired progressive, he has been notably unstinting in his affection for and loyalty to the reigning Pope; among other examples, Farrell used February's ordination of his latest auxiliary, Bishop Greg Kelly, to lay out Francis' vision of being a bishop.
Secondly, by every account Farrell has succeeded at the high-wire challenge that marked the first stage of his tenure in the Metroplex – unifying a roiled Dallas church after the divisive tenure of his predecessor, Bishop Charles Grahmann, when the diocese's staggering growth (a more than sixfold increase of Catholics since 1990) was coupled with an eruption of abuse scandals. In addition, with Hispanic fluency steeped in Mexico from his days in the Legion, the bishop has has successfully navigated the Latin and Anglo realities of the mammoth diocese, whose 67 parishes are effectively teeming at the seams, and the replacement of parish churches with significantly larger new buildings has been a common occurrence. (He would open new parishes, he's often said, if only he had the priests.)
Third, he enjoys close ties and clear goodwill among four prominent figures in Francis' orbit: having served as vicar-general and auxiliary of Washington under Cardinals Theodore McCormick and Donald Wuerl until his southern transfer, the sister of the ever-influential head of Francis' "Gang of 9," Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga, lives in Dallas, yet the work that brought him to DC to begin with saw him succeed then-Bishop Sean O'Malley as director of the capital's Centro Catolico Hispano, which the Capuchin founded a decade earlier as Latinos began to arrive in the city en masse, only to leave the role on his appointment to the Virgin Islands.
Lastly, having been a key figure in the USCCB boiler room over his 14 years on the bench – leading various elements of the conference's temporalities and serving as its executive-level treasurer – while Farrell is an administrative whiz and knows the church's tendency to be obsessed with process, he doesn't revel in it and understands its place as an element of the greater good. Beyond the sheer challenge of setting up a new ministry that will combine two pontifical councils – and likely bring its share of tough decisions – the organizational element is critical as the combined dicastery will oversee the preparations for the global church's two largest regular events: World Youth Day and the World Meeting of Families, the latter's next edition to be held in 2018 in the new prefect's native Dublin.
On top of all this, having become adept at social media with his own blog and Twitter feed, even if the Pope's pick isn't the type who'd be knocking over people to get to a camera, Farrell's always played well in the spotlight. That public role will likewise be of high import given his new post's natural role of serving as the church's lead spokesman on family issues, and in particular the dicastery most pointedly tasked with the ongoing implementation of Amoris Laetitia as a palpable amount of head-banging over the Pope's Post-Synodal Exhortation continues four months since its release.
Developing – more to come.
-30-
Now the ranking US prelate in the Roman Curia – where his brother, Brian, has long served as bishop-secretary of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity – even as the move short-circuits the long-held wish for the nation's sixth-largest city to be elevated as seat of a third province in Texas, the Vatican statement announcing the move conspicuously did not include Farrell's elevation to the rank of archbishop, which has always been customary practice for appointments of this kind.
While the pick of the Dublin-born ex-Legionary of Christ might come as a surprise in some quarters, the threads explaining it can be gleaned on several fronts.
First, and most crucially, while no one would see the low-key, driven Irishman as some kind of wild-haired progressive, he has been notably unstinting in his affection for and loyalty to the reigning Pope; among other examples, Farrell used February's ordination of his latest auxiliary, Bishop Greg Kelly, to lay out Francis' vision of being a bishop.
Secondly, by every account Farrell has succeeded at the high-wire challenge that marked the first stage of his tenure in the Metroplex – unifying a roiled Dallas church after the divisive tenure of his predecessor, Bishop Charles Grahmann, when the diocese's staggering growth (a more than sixfold increase of Catholics since 1990) was coupled with an eruption of abuse scandals. In addition, with Hispanic fluency steeped in Mexico from his days in the Legion, the bishop has has successfully navigated the Latin and Anglo realities of the mammoth diocese, whose 67 parishes are effectively teeming at the seams, and the replacement of parish churches with significantly larger new buildings has been a common occurrence. (He would open new parishes, he's often said, if only he had the priests.)
Third, he enjoys close ties and clear goodwill among four prominent figures in Francis' orbit: having served as vicar-general and auxiliary of Washington under Cardinals Theodore McCormick and Donald Wuerl until his southern transfer, the sister of the ever-influential head of Francis' "Gang of 9," Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga, lives in Dallas, yet the work that brought him to DC to begin with saw him succeed then-Bishop Sean O'Malley as director of the capital's Centro Catolico Hispano, which the Capuchin founded a decade earlier as Latinos began to arrive in the city en masse, only to leave the role on his appointment to the Virgin Islands.
Lastly, having been a key figure in the USCCB boiler room over his 14 years on the bench – leading various elements of the conference's temporalities and serving as its executive-level treasurer – while Farrell is an administrative whiz and knows the church's tendency to be obsessed with process, he doesn't revel in it and understands its place as an element of the greater good. Beyond the sheer challenge of setting up a new ministry that will combine two pontifical councils – and likely bring its share of tough decisions – the organizational element is critical as the combined dicastery will oversee the preparations for the global church's two largest regular events: World Youth Day and the World Meeting of Families, the latter's next edition to be held in 2018 in the new prefect's native Dublin.
On top of all this, having become adept at social media with his own blog and Twitter feed, even if the Pope's pick isn't the type who'd be knocking over people to get to a camera, Farrell's always played well in the spotlight. That public role will likewise be of high import given his new post's natural role of serving as the church's lead spokesman on family issues, and in particular the dicastery most pointedly tasked with the ongoing implementation of Amoris Laetitia as a palpable amount of head-banging over the Pope's Post-Synodal Exhortation continues four months since its release.
Developing – more to come.
-30-
by Rocco Palmo via Whispers in the Loggia
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