Thomas John Curry

Last updated


Thomas John Curry
Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus of Los Angeles
See Archdiocese of Los Angeles
AppointedFebruary 8, 1994
InstalledMarch 19, 1994
RetiredApril 3, 2018
Orders
OrdinationJune 17, 1967
by  John Joseph Scanlan
ConsecrationMarch 19, 1994
by  Roger Mahony, John Ward, and Armando Xavier Ochoa
Personal details
Born (1943-01-17) January 17, 1943 (age 81)
NationalityAmerican
Education University College Dublin
Loyola Marymount University
Styles of
Thomas John Curry
Mitre (plain).svg
Reference style
Spoken style Your Excellency
Religious style Bishop

Thomas John Curry (born January 17, 1943) is an Irish-born American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. Curry served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in California from 1994 to 2018. From 1994 to 2013, he was episcopal vicar of the Santa Barbara Pastoral Region of the archdiocese. [1]

Contents

Curry was forced to resign in 2013 as vicar due to his role in attempting to maintain the secrecy of sexual abuse allegations against priests in the archdiocese.

Biography

Early life

Thomas Curry was born on January 17, 1943, in Drumgoon in County Cavan, in the Republic of Ireland. He attended University College Dublin, graduating in 1963 with a bachelor's degree in history. [2]

Priesthood

On June 17, 1967, Curry was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop John Scanlan in Ireland at All Hallows College for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. [3] After his ordination in 1967, Curry moved to the United States, where he started serving as an associate pastor at St. Bernardine of Siena Parish in Woodland Hills, California.

In 1970, Curry started teaching at Pius X High School in Downey, California. During this time, Curry studied at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, receiving a Master of History degree in 1973. [3] [2]

In 1976, Curry was appointed director of the archdiocese Office of Continuing Education for Clergy. In 1978, he was a teacher for one year at St. Paul High School in Santa Fe Springs, California. He received a doctorate in history in 1983 from Claremont Graduate University in Claremont, California. [3] In 1985, Curry was appointed as vicar for clergy.

In 1987, Curry wrote a memo to Cardinal Roger Mahony discussing how to keep secret acts of sexual abuse by priests, saying that they constituted privileged information. The memo mentioned Michael Wempe, a priest in Ventura County, California, who was accused of "some sexual touching". Wempe later admitted to abusing 13 boys. [4]

The Vatican named Curry as chaplain to his holiness in 1984 and prelate of honor in 1988. In 1991, he was named director of the Secretariat for Church Ministerial Services. [3] [2]

Auxiliary Bishop of Los Angeles

On February 8, 1994, Curry was appointed as titular bishop of Ceanannus Mór and as an auxiliary bishop of Los Angeles by Pope John Paul II. Curry was consecrated on March 19, 1994, by Mahony; his principal co-consecrators were Bishops James Ward and Armando Ochoa. [1]

Within the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), Curry served as chairman of the Committee for Catholic Education and consultant to The Bishops' Committee on the Liturgy. In 2000, he signed up for the USCCB's Encuentro 2000. [2]

In 2001, Curry wrote the book Farewell to Christendom: The Future of Church and State in America. [5] In the book, Curry defined Christendom as "the system dating from the fourth century by which governments upheld and promoted Christianity". He stated that the end of Christendom came about because modern governments refused to "uphold the teachings, customs, ethos, and practice of Christianity". Curry argued that the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and the Second Vatican Council's Declaration on Religious Freedom were two of the most important documents setting the stage for the end of Christendom. [5]

On January 23, 2013, the archdiocese released 3,000 pages of church personnel files, as required by a legal settlement of a lawsuit in 2007. The files showed that Curry had repeatedly worked to suppress the public release of information on archdiocesan priests accused of sexual assault. Curry released a statement of apology the day after the files were released. [4]

On February 1, 2013, Archbishop José Gómez announced Curry's resignation as head of the Santa Barbara pastoral region. This was in response to Curry's role in aiding Cardinal Mahony in attempting to maintain the secrecy of records on abusive priests in the archdiocese. [6]

Retirement

In January 2018, Curry turned age 75 and submitted his resignation as auxiliary bishop to the Vatican, according to the procedures in canon law. On April 3, 2018, Pope Francis accepted his resignation. [1]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles</span> Archdiocese in California

The Archdiocese of Los Angeles is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. The archdiocese's cathedra is in Los Angeles, and the archdiocese comprises the California counties of Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and Ventura. The cathedral is the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles, and its present archbishop is José Horacio Gómez Velasco. With over five million professing members and weekly liturgies celebrated in 32 languages, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles is numerically the single largest and most ethnically diverse archdiocese in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Justin Rigali</span> American Catholic cardinal

Justin Francis Rigali is an American cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was the eighth Archbishop of Philadelphia, having previously served as Archbishop of St. Louis from 1994 to 2003, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 2003. Following a sex abuse probe into the Catholic Church, Cardinal Rigali resigned in 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roger Mahony</span> American Catholic bishop and cardinal (born 1936)

Roger Michael Mahony is an American cardinal and retired prelate of the Catholic Church who served as archbishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in California from 1985 to 2011. Before his appointment, he served as an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Fresno from 1975 to 1980 and bishop of the Diocese of Stockton from 1980 to 1985.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Catholic Diocese of Stockton</span> Latin Catholic ecclesiastical jurisdiction in California, USA

The Diocese of Stockton is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in the Central Valley and Mother Lode region of California in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archbishop of San Francisco

<span class="mw-page-title-main">José Horacio Gómez</span> Archbishop of Los Angeles (born 1951)

José Horacio Gómez Velasco is a Mexican-born American prelate of the Catholic Church. He became the fifth archbishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in California in 2011. He previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Denver in Colorado from 2001 to 2004 and as archbishop of the Archdiocese of San Antonio in Texas from 2004 to 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Catholic Diocese of Fresno</span> Diocese of the Catholic Church in central California

The Diocese of Fresno (Latin: Dioecesis Fresnensis is a diocese of the Latin Church in the Central Valley of California in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego</span> Latin Catholic ecclesiastical jurisdiction in California, USA

The Diocese of San Diego is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Southern California, United States. Its ecclesiastical territory includes all of San Diego and Imperial Counties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gerald Eugene Wilkerson</span> American prelate

Gerald Eugene Wilkerson is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles from 1997 to 2015 and as apostolic administrator for the Diocese of Monterey for six months in 2018 and 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Charles Wester</span> American prelate

John Charles Wester is an American Catholic prelate who has served as Archbishop of Santa Fe since 2015. He previously served as Bishop of Salt Lake City from 2007 to 2015 and as an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of San Francisco from 1998 to 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Armando Xavier Ochoa</span> American prelate

Armando Xavier Ochoa is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Fresno in California, bishop of the Diocese of El Paso in Texas and auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gabino Zavala</span>

Gabino Zavala is a Mexican-born, American former prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. Zavala served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles from 1994 until 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen Blaire</span> American Catholic bishop (1941–2019)

Stephen Edward Blaire was an American Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Stockton from 1999 to 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniel F. Walsh</span> American prelate

Daniel Francis Walsh is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Joseph Banks</span> American prelate

Robert Joseph Banks is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church, serving as bishop of the Diocese of Green Bay in Wisconsin from 1990 to 2003. He also served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Boston in Massachusetts from 1985 to 1990.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barry C. Knestout</span> Catholic bishop

Barry Christopher Knestout is an American prelate of the Catholic Church who has served as Bishop of Richmond since 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexander Salazar</span> Catholic bishop

Alejandro Salazar is a Costa Rican-born American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. Salazar served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles from 2004 to 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marc Vincent Trudeau</span> American priest of the Catholic Church

Marc Vincent Trudeau is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church, serving as an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in California since 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alejandro D. Aclan</span> Philippine-born American prelate

Alejandro Dumbrigue Aclan is a Philippine-born American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church, serving as an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in California since 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albert Bahhuth</span> Roman Catholic bishop

Albert Matta Bahhuth is a Lebanese-born prelate of the Catholic Church who has been serving as an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in California since 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slawomir Szkredka</span>

Sławomir Stanisław Szkredka is a Polish-born priest of the Catholic Church and biblical scholar who has been serving as an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in California since 2023.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Bishop Thomas John Curry [Catholic-Hierarchy]". www.catholic-hierarchy.org. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Pope Francis Accepts Resignation of Bishop Thomas Curry of Los Angeles | USCCB". www.usccb.org. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Pope Francis accepts resignation of Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop Curry". National Catholic Reporter. 3 April 2018. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
  4. 1 2 Kisken, Tom (23 January 2013). "Area Bishop Apologizes for Role in Dealing with Priests Accused of Molesting". Ventura County Star. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
  5. 1 2 Curry, Thomas John (2001). Farewell to Christendom: The Future of Church and State in America . Oxford: Oxford University Press. p.  12. ISBN   9780190287061 . Retrieved 28 January 2018.
  6. Ryan, Harriet; Kim, Victoria (1 February 2013). "Cardinal Mahony relieved of duties over handling of abuse". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 1 February 2013.