After orders from Pope Francis at The Vatican, Tuesday was the introduction of the new leader of the Memphis area’s 62,000 Catholics. Bishop David Talley will now take over the challenged local Catholic diocese.
Several priests and parishioners Local 24 News spoke with who were critical of the last bishop at the helm, applauded Bishop Talley’s appointment. They said Bishop Talley, who was raised as a Southern Baptist, is the right person to lead a new chapter of the Memphis diocese and make the needed adjustments and improvements in local parishes.
Bishop Talley came to the Bluff City with a simple goal and a simple message.
“It’s fundamental,” Bishop Talley said. “We preach the gospel and we pay the bills. In that order.”
Bishop Talley replaces Bishop Martin Holley, who Pope Francis removed in October. Holley’s rocky two-year tenure included complaints of financial mismanagement, the re-assigning of certain priests, and his role in the closing of 11 catholic schools.
Bishop Talley promised to listen, to learn, and to lead.
“None of us can undo what we’ve done in the past,” Bishop Talley said. “What we can do is accept the present and find our way out of the path of the present.”
“The people see themselves as part of the church, so that they need to be looked at, listened to,” Retired Bishop Terry Steib said.
Bishop Steib, who led the Memphis Diocese for more than 20 years, is confident Bishop Talley will bring needed change.
“I am pleased that we kept the faith throughout it all, knowing that we were bigger than just the problems we had,” Bishop Steib said. “I think that will serve the people well and with Bishop Talley.”
Those leading the Catholic Charities of West Tennessee are also optimistic in what Bishop Talley brings to Memphis.
“I know his reputation,” Executive Director Dick Hackett said. “He’s a very straight forward, very friendly, very hands on individual.”
When it comes to the ongoing priest sex abuse scandal, Bishop Talley outlined the investigation carried out last year at his diocese in Louisiana, which found nearly 5% of priests there could be credibly accused of sexual abuse of a minor.
“To be thorough in a process of investigating, leaving no stone unturned, being transparent to all while respecting the rights of all, but never again, never again turn away from the victims that have been hurt,” Bishop Talley said. “Never.”
The issue is personal for David Brown, who said he was molested by a Tennessee priest as a child and now is part of the Survivors Network Of Those Abused By Priests, or ‘SNAP’.
Brown told Local 24 News: “We are calling for all the names of any priest that was in the Memphis Diocese, that has had credible allegations against them, to be disclosed. We’ve heard all the words they can think of to calm folks down. Now is the time for real action. Nothing less is a sin.”
