ERIE BISHOP FEATURED IN NATIONAL PUBLICATION

Anne-Marie Welsh
06/27/2019

The Most Rev. Lawrence T. Persico, bishop of Erie, is featured on the cover of the summer 2019 edition of Content Evangelist, a national publication created for top leadership in the Catholic Church. The publication’s headline poses the question: “How can we help heal our wounded church?”

“Blame abounds for the crisis,” writes Patrick O’Brien, president and CEO of Faith Catholic and publisher of Content Evangelist. “But what diocesan leaders really want to know is what to do next.”

O’Brien notes that Bishop Persico is highly regarded for his response to victims, parishioners and the public.

“Bishop Persico did not blame others, become defensive or retreat into denial,” he says. “He knew that would prevent the church from our ultimate aim — to lead others to Christ.”

In the cover story, the bishop discusses how his thinking evolved as he prepared to release the names of people with credible allegations against them. He points to accepting responsibility for keeping the community informed, as well as to the gratitude and validation survivors have expressed to him.

“The sexual abuse situation gave Bishop Persico the opportunity to dig into himself and weather through it,” says Deacon Marty Eisert, who continues to serve as chair of the diocese’s pastoral planning effort. “In doing so, his leadership abilities blossomed in new ways. We need his type of leadership in the church.”

In the article, which focuses on the role of communications, Bishop Persico also recognizes the church is going to be addressing this crisis for a long time to come.

“Trust has been seriously fractured,” he says. “We will be judged on our actions more than our words. But the words we choose to keep people informed about our actions will help facilitate the trust we need to rebuild.”

The magazine can be found online at http://faithdigital.org/ContentEvangelist/CE-Summer-2019/

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