PROVIDENCE — It perhaps is unsurprising that Bishop Thomas J. Tobin, the spiritual leader of Rhode Island’s Roman Catholics, has often heard three questions during the last year, when the COVID-19 pandemic has caused so much death and suffering:
“Why did God allow this to happen?”
“Is God sending us a message?”
“Is God punishing us in some way?”
As he sat in a garden between the Cathedral of SS. Peter & Paul and the cathedral rectory on an afternoon a few days before Easter, Tobin acknowledged that even some of the most faithful cannot have helped but wonder if a greater and not necessarily benevolent power was involved.
He does not believe that.
Instead, the bishop — who turned 73 on Thursday — answers those questions with reminders of history, current events and one’s own day-to-day experiences.
“I think the pandemic occurred because we live in an imperfect world,” Tobin said. “There are always outbreaks of disease in various parts of the world. This one is unusual in its scope and its severity, but there is always disease, there are always natural disasters, there are always hurricanes and tornadoes and earthquakes and floods.
“On a more personal level, every family, every individual, has some moment of suffering and pain and sorrow. It’s because we live in an imperfect world,” a place, the bishop said, with “personal disasters and auto accidents and violence and shootings. … So we live in an imperfect world.”
How best for Christians to exist here?
By accepting that “on a global scope, on a personal level, life will never be perfect,” Tobin said. “The question for us as believers — as people of faith, as Christians — is what do we do with this suffering when it occurs? That’s, I think, where our faith challenges us.”
Pre-COVID challenges
Tobin recalled early January 2020, when a coronavirus outbreak in China was not yet being emphatically reported in the United States.
“The life of the church was going on much as it normally would, with all of our activities in the diocese, our activities in our parishes and schools,” he said. “Every year has its own challenges and its own opportunities and promises.”
As the year dawned, the bishop could expect the diocese to contend with a long record of clergy sex abuse. And the diocese did, as Attorney General Peter Neronha continued an investigation and the Rhode Island Superior Court heard arguments from three alleged victims.
And if past is prologue, the bishop in 2020 also could expect to find himself at the center of controversies on issues including the LGBTQ community, civil unions, politicians and the stewardship of Pope Francis.
As the year unfolded, he did find himself embroiled, often beginning with comments he made on his Twitter account.
“If I don’t get people’s attention, even negative, I’m probably not doing my job,” the bishop told The Journal’s Mark Patinkin in October. “I’m considered a conservative bishop in a church with traditional moral values in a state that is extremely liberal and progressive.”
Shepherding the Church through crisis
In early March, the CDC confirmed the first case of COVID-19 in Rhode Island: Marc Thibault, a staff member at Catholic St. Raphael Academy who had been on a school trip to Europe. That was when Tobin said it became clear his primary focus would be guiding the church through a crisis unlike any since the 1918 pandemic.
Like all schools in the state, the diocese’s elementary schools and high schools shifted to virtual learning. Following directives from then-Gov. Gina Raimondo and the state Health Department, the bishop closed churches to in-person services.
“It was the most painful decision I’ve ever had to make as the bishop, because it’s so counterintuitive to us, so contrary to our normal life and activity as Catholics,” the bishop said. “We go to church. We pray. We celebrate the sacraments. We receive Holy Communion. So that was a very difficult decision, but it’s something, obviously, that had to be done for the well-being, the welfare of our people, and for the common good.”
Some parishes transitioned quickly to virtual services, Tobin said, while others took longer; size and technological acumen were among the factors determining outcome, he said. And while worship went remote until in-person attendance resumed with limitations in May, churches were never locked down, Tobin said. They remained open, with restrictions, for private prayer and visitation, he said.
Catholic schools also successfully navigated the new world, Tobin said.
“We think we’ve done a terrific job,” he said.
Return to the classroom
Daniel J. Ferris, the diocese’s superintendent of Catholic schools, told The Journal that a key to what he also describes as success was the relatively quick end to virtual learning. “They’ve been open safely for in-person learning since September,” Ferris said.
The decision to return, Ferris said, was based on an assessment of the needs of students.
“We know so well that in-person learning is best for most students emotionally, socially and intellectually,” he said. “Kids need to be in school with their teachers and peers. It’s best, too, for parents who must work outside the home. Our school leadership did the right thing; with layers of mitigation strategies in place, they created safe schools. Only recently have we heard of any COVID spread in the classrooms among students or with teachers. And this has been rare.”
Ferris said that “Catholic schools lost students across the board, as did the public schools. Some students left for homeschooling and online learning. But it wasn’t all bad, because to open safely, the schools had to reduce class size and socially distance students. Now they are awaiting guidance to see if they can carefully expand to pre-COVID numbers.”
And, he added, many Catholic schools have waiting lists for the next academic year.
Revenues, fundraising took a hit
Asked to describe diocesan finances, CFO Michael Sabatino said, “It’s been a challenging year for most, and it was no different for us. In response to the pandemic, our diocesan offices, parishes, schools and agencies were asked to close.” In July, 10 positions in central administration were cut.
The pandemic “also brought all annual Catholic Charity activities to a halt,” Ferris said. “What had been a projected goal of $7.2 million was now unable to continue. Even with these tremendous challenges, the appeal managed to raise $4.2 million.”
Parish closures, he said, “had a major impact on their revenue stream,” and today, “on average, our parishes continue to record collections down 15% to 20% on a weekly basis. Still, we are cautiously optimistic as spring approaches and restrictions continue to be lifted that our parishes will see parishioners coming back and collections returning to pre-pandemic levels.”
Sabatino said he is hopeful that this year’s Catholic Charity Appeal — which serves the homeless, immigrants, people living in poverty, the Rhode Island Community Food Bank and other causes — will reach its goal of raising $6.8 million.
“Our agencies respond to many requests for assistance for housing, food, immigration needs and much more,” he said. As a faith community, we continue to work to fulfill those needs.”
Retirement approaching for Tobin
Two years from Thursday, Tobin will turn 75, the age at which the Vatican requires bishops to submit their retirement. By then, he will have been in Rhode Island for 18 years. Mindful of the limited time he has left as bishop, Tobin looks to the rest of 2021 and beyond, when the pandemic eventually ends, as a critical period.
“Our immediate challenge now is going to be renewing the church,” he said, “evangelizing, reaching out, rebuilding the church post-pandemic. … We’ve lost a lot of people, and even now we still have that dispensation in place for people who are not required to come to Sunday Mass. At some point, that has to be lifted.”
Instilling confidence and ensuring comfort will be key, the bishop said.
The job of returning the faithful to churches will be bolstered by what the Rev. James Cuddy described to The Journal as “the fact that it’s still true that the human person is hard-wired for this type of in-person, incarnational” encounter.
Cuddy, a Marine Corps chaplain and Providence College’s vice president for mission and ministry, said “through the lens of Christian faith, this is something that Christ demonstrates to us himself — being born among us and in ministering to us and ultimately winning for us our salvation, which we celebrate in such a profound and beautiful way on Easter.”
He continued: “If God wanted to do all of his redemptive work from heaven, he could, being God and all. And yet he chooses to be present among his people in a personal, fleshy, gritty, incarnational away. You see this in the Gospels, where Jesus can heal at a distance. And yet there are times when he actually goes with the person who’s making the request and places himself in the presence of the person who’s sick and effects a miracle.”
Thus, Cuddy concluded, “there’s just something about being there in person that no Zoom and no cable broadcast would ever be able to replicate in the same way.”
Empathy, and optimism
In closing the interview with The Journal, Tobin expressed empathy for the many people who have been sick, lost loved ones and jobs, and otherwise suffered during the last year.
“People have said to me, ‘How do you sleep at night with all the challenges and problems and difficulties that are part and parcel of being a leader of a church community these days, and especially in our time and place?’ I keep saying I sleep at night because I’m working as hard as I can. I’m doing my very best. Everything else is in the Lord’s hands.
“That’s been my personal perspective, and I guess I would apply this on a larger scale to what we’ve [all] experienced during the pandemic. We’re doing our best with it. We’re working hard. But everything else is in God’s hands …
“Ultimately, things will be OK. Ultimately. There will be a lot of ups and downs and pains and sorrows in the meantime, but ultimately things will be OK.”
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