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Church a part of archbishop’s life in Dayton

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By By Tom Beyerlein, Staff Writer Updated 9:10 PM Saturday, August 29, 2009

CINCINNATI — When Daniel Pilarczyk was growing up in Dayton, he didn’t think much about becoming an archbishop.

“I suppose every kid dreams about hitting the home run that will win the World Series,” Pilarczyk said from his downtown Cincinnati office. “(But) if that’s why you’re in the seminary, you’re in for trouble.”

Pilarczyk, who tendered his resignation to the Vatican on his 75th birthday, Aug. 12, grew up in several Dayton parishes. He was the only child of Daniel Joseph and Frieda Pilarczyk.

“We always went to church — it was a part of life,” Pilarczyk said. “You eat every day and you go to church on Sunday.”

Pilarczyk may never have yearned for the heights he achieved, but he always knew he wanted to be a priest. “Some people agonize over vocational issues. For me, it was just (a matter of) waiting to be old enough to go to seminary.”

After graduating from Latin school in Dayton, Pilarczyk studied in Rome, earning a doctorate in theology. He was ordained a priest in 1959 and soon realized his goal of becoming a seminary professor. He served on the faculty of the former St. Gregory Seminary in Cincinnati from 1963-74.

He was auxiliary bishop to Cincinnati Archbishop Joseph Bernardin from 1974 until 1982, when he was named Bernardin’s successor.

A published author who holds two doctorates, Pilarczyk is known as a reserved intellectual who analyzes problems methodically and shows little emotion: “I am what I am, as Popeye says. I’m not a hail fellow well met.”

He said he’s used a dispassionate, numbers-driven approach to closing and merging shrinking urban parishes. “It doesn’t make the closing of parishes painless, but it does make it reasonable.”

Pilarczyk supports church law and teachings regarding married male priests and women priests. He also has been a champion of academic freedom in Catholic universities and an opponent of abortion and materialism. In 1991, as president of the bishops’ conference, he publicly urged President George H.W. Bush to give sanctions more time to work rather than using military force in the first Persian Gulf war.

He has taken no salary from the archdiocese since he turned 65 — he lives on Social Security income — and donates all his publishing royalties to the Cincinnati seminary.

The biggest storm of Pilarczyk’s leadership were the scandals involving the church’s handling of priests who sexually abused minors. The scandal was nationwide, but Pilarczyk has drawn special criticism by victim advocates, who say he went to extraordinary lengths to prevent victims from getting redress in the courts.

Pilarczyk blamed the scandal on bishops getting bad advice from the psychological community about how to handle abusers.

“The standard we followed was ‘move the offender and tell the kid to forget about it,’” he said. “Was it a good idea? No. We made mistakes. We followed bad advice, bad guidance.” He said it was “a common practice” long before he became archbishop.

“We were trying to serve the Lord, we were trying to serve the church,” Pilarczyk said. “What happened, happened and we have to take the burden for that. We can’t undo what’s been done.”

In 2003, in a plea bargain with the Hamilton County prosecutor’s office, Pilarczyk became the only Catholic bishop to plead no contest to criminal charges in court on behalf of his diocese. The misdemeanor charges stemmed from the archdiocese’s failure to report child sexual abuse by priests.

“It wasn’t something I look back on with a great deal of warmth and pleasure,” Pilarczyk said of his court appearance. “You do what you have to do.”

Pilarczyk may be retiring, but he’ll remain active in the church. He’ll continue to live in his downtown Cincinnati apartment near the archdiocesan offices and celebrate daily Mass at St. Louis Church, also nearby. He has a contract to produce a series of 90-second reflections on the weekday Mass readings.

“I will miss trying to solve unsolvable problems. I will not miss unsolvable problems,” he said. “I will not miss angry letters. I will not miss angry people.”

Pilarczyk shrugged when asked if he worries that the priest child sexual abuse scandal will overshadow his legacy.

“Quite frankly, I don’t care about my legacy,” he said. “I hope I will stand before the Lord and he’ll say, ‘You can come in. You did pretty well.’

“That’s what I care about.”

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2264 or tbeyerlein@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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