EDITORIAL: Archbishop helped right embattled Catholic Church

Jun. 7—The right man at the right time. Santa Fe Archdiocese Archbishop Emeritus Michael J. Sheehan was certainly that.

The retired archbishop's death Saturday reminds us of one of the darkest chapters in the history of the Catholic Church, and how one man's integrity and forthrightness helped restore faith in his archdiocese.

Sheehan presided over the Santa Fe Archdiocese for 22 years, from 1993 to 2015. It wasn't easy from the start as a sexual abuse scandal of epic proportions was beginning to rock the archdiocese. Just three weeks before Sheehan faced a packed room of reporters at his first news conference in Albuquerque in April 1993, former Santa Fe Archbishop Robert F. Sanchez had resigned after five women alleged he sexually molested them as teenagers. Sanchez was one of at least 14 New Mexico priests accused of sexual abuse when Pope John Paul II named Sheehan as acting head of the archdiocese.

"I want to put the household of faith in order," Sheehan told reporters. "But I cannot do it alone, nor can I do it overnight."

Sheehan spent much of the next 22 years trying to make things right. He enacted a zero-tolerance policy for clergy sex abuse, set up a permanent review board to look into abuse allegations and imposed strict requirements and a screening process for the priesthood.

Sheehan made what had to be agonizing decisions removing more than 20 priests, most of them shortly after he arrived and a decade before clerical abuse allegations in the Archdiocese of Boston brought the scandal to the nation's attention in 2002.

Sheehan said he personally apologized to every victim of the Santa Fe Archdiocese whose name and phone number and address he had. A lawyer who deposed Sheehan said he appeared "sincerely ashamed" by the church's actions.

"My impression of him was he was a good, sincere person who was totally ashamed sitting in front of me being questioned about childhood sexual abuse," said Santa Fe attorney Merit Bennett, who filed one of the first lawsuits against the archdiocese on behalf of a child sex abuse survivor. "Actually, I felt for him."

Sheehan was a realist. He predicted as early as 1993 that the Santa Fe Archdiocese might have to file bankruptcy, which it did in 2018. The archdiocese later announced a $121.5 million settlement to compensate an estimated 394 adults who alleged they were subjected to childhood sexual abuse by priests and other clergy.

Throughout the scandal, Sheehan didn't lose sight of his ministry or shy away from controversial issues. His opposition to the death penalty played a key role in the state repealing executions in 2012. He also took strong stands against late-term abortion and same-sex marriage. Regardless of how one feels about those issues, no one questioned Sheehan's sincerity.

"While we did not agree on everything, his leadership on early childhood education and immigration were areas of collaboration that I'm grateful for, and I will always be appreciative of his counsel," Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said in a statement Monday.

U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján said Sheehan spent decades trying to better the lives of New Mexicans.

"Archbishop Emeritus Sheehan spent much of his life devoted to the Catholic faith, and his work went beyond the confines of the church," Luján said Wednesday. "His legacy of kindness and selflessness will live on through those he guided."

It's unfortunately been radio silence from the rest of the state's congressional delegation, all Democrats. The archbishop's life work deserves recognition, regardless of the Vatican's stance on controversial topics.

"One of the things I've always thought was that God has always given us the shepherd — the bishop — that we needed at that time," said Monsignor Lambert Luna, who served with Sheehan as archdiocesan vicar general. "God just blessed us with the right man at that time."

This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers.

Services for Archbishop Sheehan

Thursday, June 8

3 p.m. — Rite of Reception: Receiving the Body

Then public visitation until 7 p.m.

7 p.m. — All-night vigil service

Cathedral Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi, 131 Cathedral Place, Santa Fe

Friday, June 9

11 a.m. — Public visitation ends

11:30 a.m. — Mass of Christian burial

Cathedral Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi

The vigil and burial Mass will be live-streamed on the Archdiocese of Santa Fe's Facebook page and the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi's website, cbsfa.org.