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  New Providence Bishop Ready 'To Listen and to Learn'

By Michelle R. Smith
Associated Press, carried in Times Leader [Providence RI]
March 31, 2005

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - A bishop from Ohio was appointed to lead the Providence Diocese of the Roman Catholic Church Thursday, as the Vatican accepted the resignation of retiring Bishop Robert Mulvee.

Bishop Thomas Tobin, who turns 57 on Friday, has led the Youngstown Diocese and its 236,000 Catholics since 1995.

"I will do my very best. I will work hard. I will give my heart and soul to this diocese," Tobin said, adding that his top priority in the next few months will be "to listen and to learn."

Mulvee introduced Tobin, a Pittsburgh native who previously served as an auxiliary bishop in the Pittsburgh Diocese, at a morning news conference at the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul in Providence. He called him a "young bishop," and said he had worked with Tobin in the past.

"I know from personal experience what a wonderful man he is and how dedicated he is to the people he serves," Mulvee said.

Tobin will be formally installed on May 31, and Mulvee will continue to serve as bishop until then. Mulvee on Feb. 15 turned 75, the standard retirement age for bishops.

Tobin thanked Mulvee for his service, and said he looked forward to his duties in Providence, which he called a large, active and vibrant diocese.

The Providence Diocese covers the entire state of Rhode Island, the nation's most Catholic state where 64 percent of the population are Catholics. It is the 25th largest diocese in the United States, and includes 152 parishes and about 679,000 members.

Tobin compared the diocese to the one he was leaving behind in Youngstown, a community that has struggled with issues of urban renewal, population decline, the viability of some Catholic schools and a declining number of men seeking to enter the priesthood. He said he expected to encounter many of the same problems in Providence.

Tobin said he would continue to address the issue of clergy sex abuse, saying that the Providence Diocese "had an outstanding track record" on the issue. It reached a $14.25 million settlement in 2002 with 37 people who had sued the diocese over clergy sexual abuse.

Tobin said last year that 19 priests in the Youngstown diocese had been accused of sexually abusing children since 1950, but none since 1991. The diocese paid about $200,000 from 1950 to 2003 for counseling for victims and their families and paid about $300,000 to settle claims, Tobin said at the time. The diocese began a policy in 1994 of not offering settlements.

Thomas A. Shipka, chairman of the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Youngstown State University, praised Tobin's response to the clergy abuse crisis.

"He moved, I thought, in this diocese very quickly on that sex abuse issue and set up a committee that involved non-Catholics, even non-Christians, and I think he acted responsibly," Shipka said.

Shipka described Tobin as a theological conservative. He pointed out that Tobin strongly favored an Ohio amendment banning gay marriage, which was approved at the polls in November.

However, Tobin generally has not been out much in the community, he said.

"He invests his time in the leadership of the diocese. I don't see his name often with community projects or charitable events. He's a company man, and he gives his time and energy to leadership of the diocese," Shipka said.

Tobin would not specifically address whether Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., a Catholic who supports abortion rights, should be sanctioned by the church, but said Catholic politicians are not exempt from the church's teachings.

Tobin also commented on the case of Terri Schiavo, a severely brain-damaged Florida woman, who died Thursday after being removed from a feeding tube following a prolonged struggle between her husband and parents.

"I think it's a moral disaster, not just for Terri and her family, but for our country," he said.

Tobin is a member of the Episcopal Advisory Board, Catholics United for the Faith, and a member of the Administrative Committee of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Mulvee was ordained in 1977 as auxiliary bishop of Manchester, N.H., and was named the Bishop of Wilmington, Del., in 1985. He joined the Providence Diocese in 1995 as Coadjutor Bishop, and was named bishop two years later.

He previously served at a number of parishes in New Hampshire, and received his doctorate in canon law at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome.

Mulvee has said that he will remain active in the church. He said he is looking for parish work, such as giving sacraments, but has given up administrative work. Mulvee will keep his rooms at the cathedral, he said.

 
 

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