Youngstown’s bishop earns national leadership post

Congratulations to Bishop George Vance Murry, bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Youngstown, on his election to the executive board of the influential U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

His ascension last week to secretary of the 431-member consortium of the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church in America reflects well on Murry’s leadership acumen, and by extension, on his home diocese centered in the Mahoning Valley.

The position is the right fit for the bishop, who has a history of social and humanitarian activism. His impressive background includes decades of work with the Oblates, an international missionary society that works to improve the lot of the poor, the hungry and the downtrodden in 71 countries. He served in Rome as vicar general of the Oblates and learned the inner workings of the Vatican. He has been an active leader on Catholic Relief Services, the overseas arm of the U.S bishops. And he has served in several dioceses as bishop and as archbishop of Chicago.

In those posts and others, he has developed a superlative record of advocacy on public policy issues. Those skills will serve him well in his new position of national influence.

Murry has been particularly passionate and articulate about combating poverty and racism in America and the world. His speeches and sermons transcend religious and philosophical foundations and generally offer concrete worldy advice.

On poverty, he implores listeners to make a difference: Buy computers for needy families, cover the hospital bills of someone who cannot afford insurance, volunteer to teach reading at an inner-city Catholic school.

Just this week at a prayer breakfast in Youngstown, he articulated concrete means that people of all faiths can use to fight racism: Make contact with people of other races, identify racism in the community and devise a plan to combat it, shun racist jokes.

His new post will put him in the forefront of planning, policymaking and advocacy of the Catholic Church in America. He likely will play a key role in organizing and overseeing the first visit of Pope Benedict XVI to this country next April.

Murry’s tenure in the spotlight of Catholicism in America will not only reflect well on his leadership. It will also reflect well on the diocese he represents in Mahoning, Trumbull, Columbiana, Portage, Ashtabula and Stark counties.

Bishop Murry as multitasker

And we’re confident that his work on national policy issues will not harm his ability to shepherd the 250,000 Catholics in the Youngstown Diocese. We’re confident that he can multitask as an articulate spokesman for the public policy agenda of the conference, while still serving the spiritual and social needs of his local faithful.

The ever-humble Murry said he was surprised that his fellow bishops voted to elevate him to the executive board at this time. We’re not the least surprised. Since his installment as the fifth bishop of the Diocese of Youngstown in January, he has logged an impressive record through his soft-spoken but hard-hitting leadership style.

Indeed Murry’s style brings to mind the qualities of Bishop James Malone, who served in exemplary fashion as spiritual leader of the Youngstown Diocese from 1968 to 1996 and as a leader of the U.S. Conference of Bishops, including a stint as president.

We look for similar success and productivity from Bishop Murry. We also won’t be the least bit surprised when Murry eventually rises to the presidency of the governing body over this nation’s 77 million Catholics.