Thomas Olmsted

Last updated
His Excellency, The Most Reverend

Thomas James Olmsted
Bishop Emeritus of Phoenix
Church Catholic Church
Diocese Phoenix
AppointedNovember 25, 2003
InstalledDecember 20, 2003
RetiredJune 10, 2022
Predecessor Thomas J. O'Brien
Successor John P. Dolan
Previous post(s)
Orders
OrdinationJuly 2, 1973
by  James A. Hickey
ConsecrationApril 20, 1999
by  Eugene J. Gerber, James Patrick Keleher, Fabian Bruskewitz
Personal details
Born (1947-01-21) January 21, 1947 (age 77)
Oketo, Kansas
Alma mater
MottoJesus Caritas (Love of Jesus)
Styles of
Thomas James Olmsted
Coat of arms of Thomas James Olmsted.svg
Reference style
Spoken style Your Excellency
Religious style Bishop

Thomas James Olmsted (born January 21, 1947) is an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Phoenix in Arizona from 2003 to 2022.

Contents

Olmsted previously served as bishop of the Diocese of Wichita in Kansas from 2001 to 2003. On June 10, 2022, Pope Francis accepted his resignation as bishop of Phoenix.

Biography

Early life

Thomas Olmsted was born on January 21, 1947, in Oketo, Kansas, to Pat and Helen Olmsted; he has two brothers and three sisters. Raised on a farm in Beattie, Kansas, he attended a single-room grade school and a small rural high school in Summerfield, Kansas. He then studied at St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary in Denver, where he obtained a bachelor's degree in philosophy in 1969. [1]

Priesthood

Olmsted was ordained to the priesthood on July 2, 1973, for the Diocese of Lincoln in Nebraska. [2] After his ordination, Olmsted served as an associate pastor at the Cathedral of the Risen Christ Parish until 1976, when he began his doctoral studies in Rome. [1]

Olmsted earned a Doctor of Canon Law summa cum laude in Rome from the Pontifical Gregorian University in 1981, and served as an official in the Vatican Secretariat of State from 1979 to 1988. [3] During this period, he also worked as an assistant spiritual director at the Pontifical North American College in Rome. [1]

Upon his return to Nebraska in 1989, Olmsted was named pastor of St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Seward, Nebraska, and promoter of justice for the diocesan tribunal. [3] He later became dean of formation (1993) and president-rector (1997) at the Pontifical College Josephinum in Worthington, Ohio. [1]

Ordination history of
Thomas Olmsted
History
Episcopal consecration
Consecrated by Eugene J. Gerber (Wichita)
DateApril 20, 1999
Episcopal succession
Bishops consecrated by Thomas Olmsted as principal consecrator
Eduardo Nevares July 19, 2010

Bishop of Wichita

On February 16, 1999, Olmsted was appointed coadjutor bishop of Wichita by Pope John Paul II. He received his episcopal consecration on April 20, 1999, from Bishop Eugene Gerber, with Archbishop James Keleher and Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz serving as co-consecrators, at the Century II Convention Center in Wichita, Kansas. [2] Olmsted selected as his episcopal motto: Jesus Caritas, or "Love of Jesus", the name of his priestly fraternity. [1]

Olmsted automatically succeeded Gerber as the seventh bishop of Wichita when John Paul II accepted Gerber's resignation on October 4, 2001. [4] [2]

Bishop of Phoenix

John Paul II named Olmsted as the fourth bishop of Phoenix on November 25, 2003. [2] He was installed on December 20, 2003, replacing Bishop Thomas O'Brien, who resigned after being arrested for his involvement in a fatal hit-and-run car accident. [5]

In 2008, after the diocese had spent several million dollars to settle about 20 lawsuits, Olmsted led an initiative to shield diocesan assets from further sex abuse claims by incorporating local parishes individually. [6]

From January 2008 to February 2009, Olmsted served as apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Gallup, acting as that diocese's interim leader until the appointment of Bishop James S. Wall. [2]

Under Olmsted, the Diocese of Phoenix researched and cataloged an index of its clergymen accused of sexually abusing children and released some of their identities to the public. The diocese published a list of sexually abusive clergymen on its website. Joe Baca, the Phoenix director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, stated: "It's the right thing to do and I've got to give them that much. They need to use these names to help victims to come forward. But you know, there's still more they can do." [7]

In July 2021, in response to Pope Francis' motu proprio Traditionis Custodes, which restricts the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM), Olmsted issued a decree [8] allowing the TLM to continue in the diocese under his dispensation pursuant to Canon 87 of the Code of Canon Law.

Early in 2022, one of Olmsted's pastors resigned after learning he that he had used the incorrect words when performing thousands of baptisms. Olmsted explained the importance of using the correct language in a letter to parishioners and said he believed the error, however inadvertent, required new baptisms. [9]

Retirement

Francis accepted Olmsted's resignation as bishop of Phoenix on June 10, 2022. [10] Olmsted, despite his retirement, was to remain apostolic administrator of the Ruthenian Catholic Eparchy of the Holy Protection of Mary of Phoenix. [11] [12]

On August 1, 2018, Francis named Olmsted as apostolic administrator sede plena of the Ruthenian Catholic Eparchy of the Holy Protection of Mary of Phoenix [13] [14] On August 23, 2021, he was named apostolic administrator Sede vacante when Francis accepted the resignation of Bishop John Pazak. [15] The pope replaced Olmsted as apostolic administrator on January 1, 2023, with Bishop Kurt Burnette from the Ruthenian Catholic Eparchy of Passaic in New Jersey. [16]

Excommunication of Margaret McBride

In May 2010, Olmsted declared that Sister Margaret McBride, a member of the ethics committee of St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix, was automatically excommunicated after permitting a patient to undergo an abortion there. The patient was a woman who was 11 weeks pregnant and suffering from pulmonary hypertension. Hospital doctors had told the committee that the likelihood of the patient dying if the pregnancy was not terminated to be "close to 100 percent". [17] [18]

Olmsted accused McBride of permitting a "direct abortion," which according to the Catholic Church is always wrong. [19] He stated that she admitted to him giving “... her consent that the abortion was a morally good and allowable act according to Church teaching". "Since she gave her consent and encouraged an abortion she automatically excommunicated herself from the Church.” [20] [21]

As a result of the McBride case, and because the hospital refused to ban future abortions, Olmsted on December 21, 2010, severed the diocese's ties with St. Joseph's and stated that it could no longer refer to itself as "a Catholic hospital". [22]

Relations with Sheriff Joe Arpaio

In 2009, a photograph showing Olmsted standing alongside of Joe Arpaio in the sheriff's Phoenix tent city jail surfaced, fueling reports that Olmsted had given Arpaio permission to use the photo in his re-election campaign materials. The allegations were repeatedly denied by the Phoenix diocese, which stated: "Despite these allegations, we are fairly certain this never happened, and if it did, it was something we were completely unaware of and done without Bishop Olmsted's knowledge or consent." [23]

Viewpoints

Abortion

During the 2008 U.S. presidential election, Olmsted declared a candidate's position on abortion rights for women to be the most important consideration for voters, stating,

"When it comes to direct attacks on innocent human life, being right on all the other issues can never justify a wrong choice on this most serious matter." [24]

On March 10, 2009, Olmsted spoke against President Barack Obama's decision to reverse restrictions on embryonic stem cell research, saying, "American taxpayers will now be paying for the killing of human beings at a very early stage in their lives (as embryos), so that scientific research can make use of them for experiments that may or may not yield positive results." [25] He also referred to embryonic stem cell research as "homicidal research". [25]

In March 2009, Olmsted criticized the University of Notre Dame for selecting Obama as the commencement speaker for its graduation ceremony and awarding him an honorary doctoral degree, calling the choice a "grave mistake." Olmsted said that Notre Dame's actions went against a previous decision of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in their June 2004 Statement “Catholics in Political Life”: "The Catholic community and Catholic institutions should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles. They should not be given awards, honors or platforms which would suggest support for their actions." [26]

LBGT rights

On September 12, 2008, Olmsted released a YouTube video [27] urging Arizona voters to vote for Proposition 102, a referendum to amend the Arizona Constitution to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman. [27] The proposition passed, but it was struck down in court in 2014. [28]

Immigration

On March 8, 2010, Olmsted signed a letter expressing concern over Arizona SB 1070. He indicated that if the law passed, it might instill fear in those undocumented immigrants who are crime victims and deter them from going to the police out of fears of deportation. [29]

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Bishop Emeritus Thomas J. Olmsted". The Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix. Retrieved 2023-11-22.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Bishop Thomas James Olmsted [Catholic-Hierarchy]". www.catholic-hierarchy.org. Retrieved 2023-11-22.
  3. 1 2 "Monsignor Thomas Olmsted is Named Coadjutor Bishop of Wichita". United States Conference of Catholic Bishops . 1999-02-15.
  4. ↑ "Rinunce e Nomine, 10.04.2001" (Press release) (in Italian). Holy See Press Office. October 4, 2001. Retrieved June 11, 2022.
  5. ↑ Broder, John and Nick Madigan (2003-06-18). "Police Investigate Alcohol In Case of Bishop and Death". The New York Times .
  6. ↑ Clancy, Michael (2008-02-02). "After costly sex-abuse claims, diocese moves to shield assets". The Arizona Republic.
  7. ↑ "Catholic Diocese of Phoenix Names Clergy Pervs on Revamped Website". Phoenix New Times. June 15, 2011.
  8. ↑ Phoenix, Diocese of (2021-07-24). "Letter from Bishop Olmsted and Decree regarding the implementation of Traditionis Custodes in the Diocese of Phoenix". The Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix. Retrieved 2021-12-24.
  9. ↑ Johnston, Chuck; Almasy, Steve (February 15, 2022). "A pastor baptized people for decades using one wrong word. Now those are all considered invalid". CNN. Retrieved June 11, 2022.
  10. ↑ "Resignations and Appointments, 10.06.2022" (Press release). Holy See Press Office. June 10, 2022. Retrieved June 11, 2022.
  11. ↑ "Announcements" . Retrieved June 16, 2022.
  12. ↑ "For Immediate Release" . Retrieved June 16, 2022.
  13. ↑ "Pope Francis Names Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted As Apostolic Administrator of the Byzantine Eparchy of Phoenix". United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved August 1, 2018.
  14. ↑ "Pope Francis Names Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted As Apostolic Administrator of the Byzantine Eparchy of Phoenix". The Catholic Sun. Retrieved August 1, 2008.
  15. ↑ "Pope Francis Accepts Resignation of Bishop John Pazak of the Byzantine Eparchy of Holy Protection of Mary; Appoints Bishop Thomas Olmsted as Apostolic Administrator". United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
  16. ↑ "Resignations and Appointments". press.vatican.va. Retrieved 2023-11-22.
  17. ↑ Hagerty, Barbara (2010-05-19). "Nun Excommunicated for Allowing Abortion". National Public Radio.
  18. ↑ Catholic Healthcare West - St Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center Statement on Bishop Olmsted Announcement - Frequently Asked Questions
  19. ↑ Catholic News Agency: "Sister violated more than Catholic teaching in sanctioning abortion, ethicist says" May 19, 2010
  20. ↑ Catholic News Agency: "Catholic sister told Phoenix bishop abortion was allowed by Church teaching" May 18, 2010
  21. ↑ Diocese of Phoenix: "Questions and Answers Re: the Situation at St Joseph's" Archived 2011-07-20 at the Wayback Machine May 18, 2010
  22. ↑ "Phoenix bishop removes hospital's Catholic status". National Catholic Reporter. December 21, 2010. Retrieved 2023-11-22.
  23. ↑ "After Arpaio's pardon, bishops ask for compassion for undocumented immigrants". National Catholic Reporter. Retrieved 2024-01-19.
  24. ↑ Denogean, Anne (2008-10-23). "Tucson Catholics get mixed messages on voting for pro-choice candidates". Tucson Citizen .
  25. 1 2 Olmsted, Thomas (2009-03-10). "What should science trump?". The Catholic Sun. Archived from the original on 2009-03-15.
  26. ↑ Catholic News Agency: "Bishop of Phoenix accuses Notre Dame president of disobeying U.S. bishops" March 26, 2009
  27. 1 2 Olmsted, Thomas (2008-09-12). "Diocese of Phoenix Position on Proposition 102". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-15.
  28. ↑ Westfall, Julie (17 October 2014). "Arizona and Wyoming gay marriage bans struck down". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  29. ↑ "ARIZONA BISHOPS EXPRESS CONCERN ABOUT LEGISLATION TARGETING UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS" (PDF). Arizona Catholic Conference. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-08-23. Retrieved 2023-11-22.
Catholic Church titles
Preceded by Bishop of Wichita
2001–2003		Succeeded by
Preceded by Bishop of Phoenix
2003–2022		Succeeded by
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