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Bishop Joseph Martino of the Scranton diocese has been in the news a lot lately.
He's been in the news a lot ever since he came to Scranton back in 2003 and he's been very careful to make sure he gets his name in the news on his own terms.
It was such a simple interview back in March of 2004. I sat down with Bishop Martino when he was just six months on the job in Scranton.
All we talked about then was that weekend's St. Patrick's Day parade. I should have savored the moment because it was the last time I saw the bishop in person.
A lot has happened since then.
The bishop has closed schools and consolidated parishes across the diocese. He has openly questioned the teachings at Catholic colleges and he's very publicly criticized high-profile politicians like U.S. Senator Bob Casey, a member of his own diocese.
One thing he hasn't done is sit down for an interview with the local media.
It was a little more than a month ago, the week after Easter, when we first called and were told, no interview with the bishop.
That's the ironic part, because Bishop Martino clearly has a lot to say. The diocese routinely releases statements with a message or a criticism or a question from the bishop. Sometimes more than one a week. The intention of the releases is to get the bishop's message in the paper and on TV.
In a release from May 1 Bishop Martino criticized Kings College for having Senator Casey as its commencement speaker, saying the senator doesn't have the moral stature to address Catholic school graduates.
It made for big headlines.
The senator refused to get into a war of words.
"Look, when you're public figure, you're subjected to a good bit of criticism, that comes with the work that I do," Senator Casey said last week.
But we had some questions. Bob Casey, by his own admission, is a life-long, pro-life Democrat. Hard to come by these days in the United States Senate. Isn't he exactly the kind of high-ranking, national official that a Catholic diocese would love to have from its own hometown? But that's the thing about press releases. You can't ask any questions of them.
So we decided to try the bishop one more time.
Again. No interview.
At least I'm in good company.
Back in 2005, the mayor of Carbondale sent a letter asking for a meeting with the bishop after the diocese closed Sacred Heart High School.
"And the answer to that letter was no," said Carbondale Mayor Justin Taylor said in 2005.
He's been in the news a lot ever since he came to Scranton back in 2003 and he's been very careful to make sure he gets his name in the news on his own terms.
It was such a simple interview back in March of 2004. I sat down with Bishop Martino when he was just six months on the job in Scranton.
All we talked about then was that weekend's St. Patrick's Day parade. I should have savored the moment because it was the last time I saw the bishop in person.
A lot has happened since then.
The bishop has closed schools and consolidated parishes across the diocese. He has openly questioned the teachings at Catholic colleges and he's very publicly criticized high-profile politicians like U.S. Senator Bob Casey, a member of his own diocese.
One thing he hasn't done is sit down for an interview with the local media.
It was a little more than a month ago, the week after Easter, when we first called and were told, no interview with the bishop.
That's the ironic part, because Bishop Martino clearly has a lot to say. The diocese routinely releases statements with a message or a criticism or a question from the bishop. Sometimes more than one a week. The intention of the releases is to get the bishop's message in the paper and on TV.
In a release from May 1 Bishop Martino criticized Kings College for having Senator Casey as its commencement speaker, saying the senator doesn't have the moral stature to address Catholic school graduates.
It made for big headlines.
The senator refused to get into a war of words.
"Look, when you're public figure, you're subjected to a good bit of criticism, that comes with the work that I do," Senator Casey said last week.
But we had some questions. Bob Casey, by his own admission, is a life-long, pro-life Democrat. Hard to come by these days in the United States Senate. Isn't he exactly the kind of high-ranking, national official that a Catholic diocese would love to have from its own hometown? But that's the thing about press releases. You can't ask any questions of them.
So we decided to try the bishop one more time.
Again. No interview.
At least I'm in good company.
Back in 2005, the mayor of Carbondale sent a letter asking for a meeting with the bishop after the diocese closed Sacred Heart High School.
"And the answer to that letter was no," said Carbondale Mayor Justin Taylor said in 2005.
