Too often, Catholic commentators, including myself, speak about American bishops in the plural. The existence of a national bishops’ conference unfortunately encourages this habit, one that obscures a basic fact about the Catholic Church: It is individual bishops who are responsible for sanctifying the lives of the Catholic faithful.
There’s no better antidote to the chatter about “the bishops” than focusing attention on one bishop who, by all accounts, is doing his job exceedingly well. Bishop Robert F. Vasa is a shepherd who has been steadily gaining a national reputation for his articulate leadership on controversial issues and generous support of lay apostolates.
Vasa was named bishop of Baker, Oregon, in late 1999. Most of his life as a priest has been spent in Nebraska, where he was born in 1951. Ordained to the priesthood in 1976, Vasa served as a pastor, teacher, and advocate to the marriage tribunal before going to Rome for post-graduate study in canon law at the Pontifical Gregorian University in 1979.
Returning from Rome two years later, Bishop Vasa spent nearly two decades serving the diocese of Lincoln — first under the leadership of Bishop Glennon Flavin, then under Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz, who came to Lincoln in 1992. Bishop Vasa held all the positions of responsibility available to a priest from pastor, judicial vicar, vicar general, to finance officer and chairman of the Diocesan Building Commission.
In just over his ten years as a bishop, Vasa has made a series of bold decisions and released several incisive statements. In April 2004, he issued “Giving Testimony to the Truth,” a document addressed to the lay ministers of the Baker diocese that included an oath of fidelity. Reminding those who serve the diocese that it is the bishops who commission them to exercise these works, Bishop Vasa made the oath a requirement for employment, because the Church “teaches that anyone commissioned to a lay apostolate in the Church should be fully accepting of all Catholic teachings.”
The following year, Bishop Vasa may have ruffled a few feathers when he rejected the USCCB’s imposition of the “Talking About Touching” program as a response to priest sexual abuse. Preferring to create his own “safe environment program,” Bishop Vasa argued that “Talking About Touching” left too many unanswered and troubling questions:
Are such programs effective? Do such programs impose an unduly burdensome responsibility on very young children to protect themselves rather than insisting that parents take such training and take on the primary responsibility for protecting their children? Is it true that other groups, actively promoting early sexual activity for children, promote these programs in association with their own perverse agendas?
In 2006, Bishop Vasa weighed in again on a controversial subject, what he called the “heresy” of pro-abortion Catholic politicians:
There is a point at which passive “tolerance” allows misleading teachings to be spread and propagated, thus confusing or even misleading the faithful about the truths of the Church. . . . There is a very strong word, which still exists in our Church, which most of us are too “gentle” to use. The word is “heresy.”
Interviewed by LifeSiteNews at the Catholic Leadership Conference in 2008, Bishop Vasa stated that abortion support “disqualified” a Catholic for political office. The USCCB’s controversial “Faithful Citizenship” document of 2007, according to Bishop Vasa, contained the same view. He rejected the spin on “Faithful Citizenship” that a Catholic could vote for a pro-abortion candidate for “proportionate reasons” when facing a politician who supported capital punishment and the Iraq War:
When we have someone who has that stand on a disqualifying issue, then the other issues, in many ways, do not matter because they are already wrong on that absolutely fundamental issue.
Bishop Vasa’s interest in health care is longstanding and informed, as he created self-funded medical insurance for his former diocese of Lincoln as well as Baker. He also serves on the board of the Catholic Medical Association, which described him as having “visionary wisdom.” In February 2010, explaining that the St. Charles Medical Center in Bend, Oregon, “gradually moved away” from Church ethical and religious standards, Bishop Vasa announced it can no longer be “called Catholic.” St. Charles was performing sterilizations in the form of tubal ligations.
A month later, Bishop Vasa described the health-care bill — which was supported by Catholic politicians like Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Joe Biden — as “positively evil.” He rejected the arguments used by Catholic supporters that it was necessary to pass in spite of its flaws:
The demand that such a provision [i.e., abortion] be eliminated is not a demand for ‘perfection.’ Such a demand, in this case, is not the enemy of the good, it is standing in the face of evil.
In all these actions, Bishop Vasa is viewed by those who know him as a leader who expresses, without hesitation, the common sense of the Catholic Faith. When Gene Zurlo, a lay leader who has worked with Bishop Vasa, heard I was writing this column, he urged: “Say that he is holy, wise, faithful, and courageous, and that we need more like him!”
In recognition of his heroic and articulate leadership, Bishop Vasa will be the honoree at our 15th Annual Partnership Dinner on September 16 at the Hamilton Crowne Plaza Hotel in Washington, D.C. Prior to the reception and dinner, Bishop Vasa will celebrate Mass and speak on the true authority of the bishops. Please email brenda.steele1@gmail.com or romanowsky@insidecatholic.com for more information about this important event.
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I do not agree with loyalty oaths. is he saying that in order to be a lector or Eucharistic Minister, one must take a loyalty oath and agree with everything he says? If so, he has overstepped his authority.
“I do not agree with loyalty oaths. is he saying that in order to be a lector or Eucharistic Minister, one must take a loyalty oath and agree with everything he says? If so, he has overstepped his authority.”
The loyalty oath ONLY covers Catholic doctrine, not the bishop’s personal opinion, so no-one is expected to agree with him on everything. It’s loyalty to the faith, not specifically to Bishop Vasa, even though he has been a blessing to this area.
Mr. Hudson, I am glad to see you honoring such a deserving man. I wish I could make it, but DC is a long way from here!
Note to Northwestern: you are welcome to him.
I’m certain that there are many Bishops who are doing their job in furthering the salvation of souls for Christ (remember that antiquated notion?) It is a sad commentary on the state of the Roman Chruch in America that it comes down to making an issue of the fact that some bishops are doing the work they were chosen,ordained, and elevated for.
Notre Dame proved (only 1 of 3 bishops spoke out publicly against the scandal orchestrated by the neo-modernists) to be a window into the soul of today’s Church in America and it isn’t a pretty story. Then again He promised us persecution, and reminded us through the money changers and Judas, His hand-picked apostle, that “the smoke of Satan would enter the tabernacle.” to paraphrase slightly a quote by Paul VI.
one of the most eloquent and articulate documents issued by a shepherd of the Church that I have ever read. I have it saved on file and every chance I get to e-mail it to someone in a key leadership role in the Church, I do so. I would recommend it to every bishop. If every bishop read it and implemented it in his own diocese, so many of the problems facing the American Church will have taken a major step toward resolution. This oath of fidelity to the fullness of the Church’s teachings should be expected of everyone who works at the USCCB. I fear it would add greatly to the unemployment rolls of the country.
I am hoping that Deal would post a copy of it here on IC.
I’d have an easier time accepting that I should send my dc to religious ed if all the catechists would have to sign an oath of fidelity!
I missed noticing the link to the document “Giving Testimony to the Truth.” Treat yourselves to some quality shepherding by giving it a read.
Excellent article! Please pray to God and our patron St. Francis de Sales that Baker may be blessed with vocations to the priesthood and religious life.
What a novel idea ! Insisting that Catholics be Catholic.
I had the honor of meeting Bishop Vasa a few years back.
His honesty,forthrightness and deep and sincere pastoral sense were refreshing. Oregon’s Catholics are lucky to have him- whether they realize it or not.
I remember Bishop Vasa taking the time to email me, a mom working with her children’s Catholic school and parish on the other side of the country, to find alternate resources besides “Talking about Touching” for our Catholic youth. When not much was found, the good bishop worked with a team to develop one! I applaud his efforts.
Heroic virtue is the sign of a saint.
I had the good fortune to be a member of St Peter’s Parish in Lincoln when then Fr. Vasa was in place. He is a great role model and I am proud that he was my pastor for a short time. I am glad and not surprised that he is standing up to the likes of Pelosi and Obama. Thank you, Bishop Vasa.
It makes excellent sense for ANY teachers of Religious Ed. to our children, and those who teach in the RCIA to be faithful to the Church’s teachings on both Faith and Morals. Introducing so-called “gray areas” – where some theologians spin exceptions on difficult abortion cases, or similar cases – at best gives confusion to new Christians, and at worst leads them away from Christ.
To my knowledge, no current way exists of saving the baby who has implanted in a fallopian tube or otherwise outside the mother’s uterus. Surgery to save the mother’s life in the case of an extrauterine pregnancy should NOT be considered “an abortion”.
TeaPot562
FWIW, Bishop Vasa’s diocese comprises about 2/3 of the state of Oregon, itself the 7th largest state in the Union. Per the pastor of Bishop Vasa’s cathedral parish (himself Maltese), which we visited several weeks ago, the diocese has only about 26 priests. Of these a huge proprotion are Nigerian, Indian, Vietnamese, or Sri Lankan. I think Bishop Vasa has only about 6-10 American priests. Nevertheless he is getting the job done, thanks be to God! A priest in Bend told us that the Bishop has imported nuns from an order in Kenya to be the nucleus for what he hopes will be an order composed largely of young women from the diocese itself to staff the Catholic grade schools of the diocese- of which only five are functioning at the moment.
In our travels, we attended weekday Mass in Burns where Fr. Francis (from Uganda, I believe) is the pastor. To a congregation of 10 people, all women except me, he preached a substantial, wonderful sermon, very well thought out and powerful. The delivery was so powerful and full of life! I have never seen or heard anything like it.
Yes, Bishop Vasa is getting the job done alright!
Bishop Vasa is a man of great personal integrity and personal conviction. He is scrupulous and strives to uphold those teachings of the Church that are least popular (and least-received by the faithful). My concern, as a Catholic in his diocese, is that his zeal for strict adherence to such teachings of the church is at times rigid to a point of disrupting the unity of Catholic people. Bishops exercise different degrees of tolerance on a variety of issues and a wise Bishop understands which battles are worth fighting. Thus the church has maintained unity across vastly different times, cultures and circumstances. It is worth noting that substantial numbers of deeply faithful, service-driven Catholics in the diocese have felt frustrated by Bishop Vasa’s concerns with compliance and fidelity oaths over service. We hear a great deal about the unborn and victims of child abuse, and these are to be commended, but I long for more focus on social justice, health care for the uninsured, an end to war, a response to the profound unemployment in his diocese and the human suffering that follows. I would rejoice to see Bishop Vasa apply his zeal to the Catholic social teachings. My heart breaks to watch so many of my friends, including clergy, leave the church in Bend because strict adherence to the “rules” –including great focus on minutia such as the exact wording of introductory or closing (of questionable theological significance) phrases in the liturgy–have felt more important than the unity of the community. I love the church and I respect Bishop and his office, but my faith is increasingly nourished elsewhere. In the final analysis, I believe we have to love each other more than our ideals.
Birdseye, here’s what I don’t understand: why can’t the “deeply faithful, service-driven Catholics in the diocese” unite around compliance and fidelity to the teachings of the Church? I would think it a reasonable requirement that those trying to help the poor (a laudable endeavor) in the name of the Church should do so following the Church’s rules. Otherwise there is a very real risk of the ends justifying the means…evil done to accomplish a “good” (e.g., abortion provided to a pregnant teenager living on the streets).
What concerns me is people who don’t want to hear the rules at all, who don’t want to know what the rules are, and who throw a fit when someone (like this Bishop) tries to make them learn and follow the rules. If one questions a rule, then that person should try to find out why the rule exists (answers are out there, these aren’t just arbitrary rules). But blaming the Bishop for this is like blaming a coach for teaching his football players how to play football. How good would such a team be, playing Calvinball instead of football?
Well and truly said Mr. Siekierski !!
I have met Bishop Vasa, and agree completely with Deal. Talking with him gave me a new appreciation for the duties of a bishop, because so many people want him to pay attention to the things that are important to them individually. It struck me as being similar to the demands that a mother of a large family receives from her children, but without the rewards of familial affection or the charms of little children. We are fortunate in the US to have someone with his fortitude and convictions.
THAT’S OUR BISHOP and we love him a great deal. He has done so much for the Diocese of Baker Oregon. He does nothing against true Catholic teaching and is wonderful to listen to. When he teaches, it is so enlightening. A great teacher and loving shepherd. God Bless Bishop Vasa.
Having met Bishop Vasa a few times and having family members who live in his largest parish, Bend, I can attest to the goodness of this man. As stated above, he is a wonderful teacher as well as a caring shepherd. He presents the truth so simply and charitably while taking all attacks against him in a manner that is very calm but yet unshakable in his commitment to the truth. We need more clergy with his gifts.