I guess I should make clear what I think is going to happen in the near future in Boston based on the post preceding this one. Bishop Boles is 76 so I think he’s going to be allowed to retire. Bishop Irwin is not yet 75, but he’s not in great health—he has difficulty getting around and an auxiliary’s job is to travel around a lot to do confirmations and the like—so I think he’ll be allowed to retire too. So that’s two.
As for Lennon, I think he’ll be promoted, but I’m not sure if that will come now or later. If he’s going to be made an ordinary of his own diocese, it should be relatively soon since he’s 59 now.
Take it with a grain of salt, of course.
Update: Okay, I’m now hearing that Lennon is definitely going soon and that the new vicar general will be a Boston priest now serving as a military chaplain.
Yeah, I heard that my old sociology prefessor from Saint John’s Seminary College of Liberal Arts, Father Richard Erickson is going to be the new Vicar General for Boston. He is a real great guy with a great sense of humor. He graduated from Saint Anselm’s in Manchester, ordained from Saint John’s Seminary, and got his doctorate at USC in Sociology. He is very humble and doesn’t pretend to know everything. He will ask questions before making a decision. He likes people and is always willing to try new things. He was in charge of Pastoral Assignments at the College. I took two courses with him (Introduction to Sociology and Sociology of Religion). The things I learned in class are very helpful in the work I do today.
Oh, and he is currently serving as an Air Force Chaplin. When we were in college seminary, he had a set of real neat looking vestments that a group of Air Force wives designed and made for him. I hope he still has them.
Hey Dom, what is tomorrow’s Lottery Number going to be? You called it correctly on Bishop Lennon. He was just appointed Bishop of Cleveland.
OK, you want that cup of coffee, you got it. Send me an email and I will be more than willing to get you one.
I never said I lied those people or that they were solid appointments; I just said help Cardinal Sean find new people to replace them. We all know that now Cardinal Sean is on the way to making big changes in the Archdiocese. Some of those people you named may be on the way out.
Oh, and Dom, I would be interrested to know if you think Msgr. William P. Fay is in the picture. Do you think he will be one of the Auxillaries named for Boston? I have not heard if he has been reassigned after leaving his post as the General Secretary of the USCCB.