As widely speculated over recent weeks, this morning, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Archbishop Charles Chaput, 66, as the ninth archbishop of Philadelphia. According to the Catholic News Agency, Pope Benedict handpicked Chaput for the appointment, selecting him over the recommendations by the Congregation for Bishops. (If that doesn’t show us how the Pope really cares about the direction of the Church throughout the world, I don’t know what will.) Until this time, Chaput has served as Archbishop of Denver.

Since becoming the shepherd of Denver in 1997, Chaput has focused most of his efforts on promoting vocations to the priesthood and religious life, advancing the mission of the church, defending its authentic teachings, and embracing its cultural diversity.

According to the Denver archdiocesan website, Chaput has ordained nearly half of the priests serving the estimated 550,000 member church. In 1999, building off of the efforts of its former archbishop, the Archdiocese of Denver established the St. John Vianney Theological Seminary. The establishment of the seminary was not only important for the promotion of vocations to the priesthood but also for the encouragement of vocations to the permanent diaconate and lay ministry.

In 2002, Archbishop Chaput and Bishop Jose Gomez–then Auxiliary Bishop of the Denver church–founded Centro San Juan Diego, an apostolic ministry focused on embracing the Hispanic heritage of the Catholic Church in the West. Chaput also co-founded the Catholic Association of Latino Leaders (CALL) and ENDOW, a Catholic leadership initiative for promoting education on the dignity of women.

This morning, the Miami Herald printed a story about a priest sexual abuse case from the Archdiocese of Denver. On the very day officials at the Archdiocese received claims of abuse, the priest accused was immediately removed. In an effort to make the handling of these cases more transparent, the “action against the priest was swift and public.”

The action against the priest was swift and public.

Within five days of receiving a decades-old child sex abuse allegation against the Rev. Melvin Thompson, Denver’s Roman Catholic Archdiocese investigated, alerted law enforcement and announced his suspension to parishioners and the public.

The archdiocese says Thompson, 74, maintains his innocence. Some parishioners have complained the process was unfair and too fast. However Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput called prompt action “painful but necessary.”

The episode highlights the challenges American Catholic Church leaders face as they follow through on a promise to be more transparent in dealing with priests accused of abuse, while respecting the rights of both victims and the accused.

The case comes amid a worsening global clergy abuse scandal focused on how Pope Benedict XVI has dealt with problem priests in his past church roles.

For years, some U.S. church officials kept mum about abuse allegations and shuffled problem priests from parish to parish – practices first exposed in the 1980s and then on a larger scale in the early 1990s.

Denver’s handling of the Thompson case is the latest example of American Catholic leaders shifting from secrecy to greater openness, an attitude church leaders elsewhere in the world have been slower to adopt.

This week, the Vatican for the first time made it clear that bishops and clerics worldwide should report such crimes to police if they are required to by law, matching a policy worked out by U.S. bishops after an explosion of sex abuse cases in 2002.

As most of you (if not all of you) are aware, this morning the Holy Father made one of the most significant appointments of his pontificate, naming Archbishop Jose H. Gomez as Coadjutor-Archbishop of Los Angeles, which is the largest diocese in the United States. Throughout the day, bishops from across the country have been voicing their praise, congratulations, and prayers for Archbishop Gomez.

Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York wrote the following:

I was overjoyed to learn of the appointment of Archbishop José Gomez of San Antonio as the Coadjutor Archbishop of Los Angeles. He will be a great blessing to the Catholic faithful of our nation’s largest archdiocese, and to the entire Los Angeles community, as well as to my good friend, Cardinal Roger Mahony, who has served the Los Angeles Archdiocese so faithfully for 25 years.

I have known Archbishop Gomez for more than a decade. I cherish his friendship and admire his zeal. I look forward to working together even more closely in the years to come, and assure him of my prayers as he prepares to undertake this new phase of service to Christ and his church.

SOURCE: The Gospel in the Digital Age

PHOTO SOURCE: Global Catholic Radio Conference

Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver, who ordained Archbishop Gomez as an Auxiliary Bishop for the Archdiocese of Denver, made the following congratulatory remarks upon receiving the news of Gomez’s appointment to L.A.: