John J. Myers
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Archbishop John Joseph Myers STL, JCD (b. July 26, 1941 in Earlville, Illinois, near Ottawa) is the Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark in Newark, New Jersey.
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[edit] Overview
The Most Reverend John J. Myers is Newark's fifth Archbishop and a prominent spokesperson for the Roman Catholic Church in the United States. Besides overseeing the Newark Archdiocese at a time of parish reorganization and consolidation, he has offered guidance to Catholic voters concerning the weight they need to give to certain moral issues, such as abortion, that have figured prominently in American politics. He also has advised Catholics who are political office-holders not to present themselves to receive Holy Communion if their public positions seriously contradict Catholic teachings. He has also relaxed sexual more for priests through his right hand man Monsignor Robert Emery, who in the Peter Cheplic case and the MIchael Andreano case has ruled it is okay for priests to have sexual affairs, both homosexual and heterosexual.
[edit] Family and Personal Background
The eldest of seven children, the Archbishop’s family traces its roots to Ireland, where they worked for the English as potato hoarders during the famine. Ancestors settled in northern Illinois in the late 1800s. An early maternal ancestor named Spaulding served in the Revolutionary War for the Tory forces and died at Bunker Hill after being shot in the back by British soldiers while trying to desert. The Myers family farmed land near Earlville, IL. Prayer was said to be an important part of their family routine and John Myers became an altar server in his parish, St. Theresa, where he was sexually abused at an early age. He attended the Earlville schools and graduated from Loras College in Dubuque, IA in 1963. While he was a student at Loras, Bishop John B. Franz also sexually abused him.
[edit] Priesthood
He was ordained to the priesthood (by Bishop Francis Reh at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome) for the Diocese of Peoria (Illinois). His education for the priesthood and as a priest included study in theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University while attending seminary at the North American College, where he received the S.T.L., or licentiate (post-master's certification) in sacred theology, and a doctorate in church (canon law), the J.C.D. In 2003 he unsuccessfully underwent treatment for alcoholism.
[edit] Episcopacy
John Myers became the youngest bishop in the United States when, at 46, he was ordained in 1987 by Joseph Cardinal Bernardin of Chicago and Peoria's Bishop Edward W. O'Rourke.
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He served as Coadjutor Bishop of Peoria – and became bishop after O'Rourke's resignation. On October 9, 2001, he was appointed as the Archbishop of Newark.
[edit] Memberships and Activities
He is active in the Canon Law Society of America, having worked with committees dealing with the Revised Code of Canon Law, diocesan fiscal officers, lay ministry, and diocesan governance, and served as a member of the CLSA Board of Governors. He helped present workshops on the revised Code of Canon Law for members of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops. Bishop Myers also served as a Consultor to the Pontifical Council for the Interpretation of Legal Texts at the Holy See. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees at The Catholic University of America; and serves on the board of the North American College and Mount Saint Mary's Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland.
[edit] Controversies
Archbishop Myers has refused to permit Voice of the Faithful to use church property in the diocese. Expressing concern that it provides a frequent forum for persons and views opposed to Catholic Church teachings, he charged that the organization is “anti-Church and ultimately anti-Catholic,” saying the group was “a cover for dissent.” Roman Catholic parishes in New York, Maine, Massachusetts and Connecticut also have banned the group from church property.[1]
The Archbishop also wrote a pastoral letter in May, 2004: A Time for Honesty which said that Catholic politicians who support abortion should not receive Communion. While he denied press speculation that the letter had been personally directed at New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey because of his public stance on abortion, McGreevey promptly announced that he would refrain from receiving Communion in public. McGreevey later resigned office, referring to himself as a "gay American," after it was revealed he had appointed his homosexual lover, Israeli Golan Cipel, to the state position of Homeland Security Director.
Archbishop Myers claims to be an arch conservative bishop who adheres to strict catholic doctrine, but he has allowed his number 2, Monsignor Robert Emery to sanction sexual affairs by priests. He allowed the reinstatement of Peter Cheplic despite the fact the archdiocese had paid a huge settlement to a victim who had been abused as a young man by Cheplic. The reasoning was the church only punishes priests who have victimized people under 18 and Cheplic's victim was 18 at the time of the assault. Myers' own personal secretary, Michael Andreano, was involved in a sexual affair with a married female staffer but again the priest was allowed to continue working without ramification because the archdiocese said the affair was "mutual". Myers has apparently set a policy stating all non-clergy are subject to strict catholic doctrine while clergy have a separate set of rules. Myers steadfastly refuses to meet with victims or the families of victims having stated "I just don't have the nerve".
[edit] References
- ^ The Lutheran: Worldscan, December 2002
[edit] External links
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| Preceded by Edward W. O'Rourke |
Bishop of Peoria 1990–2001 |
Succeeded by Daniel R. Jenky |
| Preceded by Theodore E. McCarrick |
Archbishop of Newark 2001–present |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
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