Look Forward and Upward

Interview

Bishop Robert Vasa on pro-abortion Catholics, the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, and what authentic renewal of the Church will look like

Interview by Jim Graves

Bishop Robert Vasa has served as bishop of Baker, Oregon since 2000. On January 24, the Vatican announced that he will serve as coadjutor bishop for the Diocese of Santa Rosa, California. Bishop Vasa will assist the current head of the diocese, Bishop Daniel Walsh, and then succeed him as bishop once Walsh reaches the mandatory retirement age of 75 in 2012.

Bishop Vasa, age 59, has been outspoken in his defense of Catholic doctrine and moral teachings, particularly related to the life issues. He made news recently when he declared that a bishop’s authority in his own diocese supersedes that of the national bishops’ conference, stating, “It is easy to forget that the conference is the vehicle to assist bishops in cooperating with each other and not a separate regulatory commission.” He added, “there may also be an unfortunate tendency on the part of bishops to abdicate to the conference a portion of their episcopal role and duty.”

Bishop Vasa has also voiced concerns over the USCCB’s Catholic Campaign for Human Development, and has insisted that Catholics who teach or hold leadership roles in his diocese take an oath to express their loyalty to Church teaching. He also ended diocesan sponsorship of St. Charles Medical Center-Bend over its refusal to support Church teaching on health-related issues.

Bishop Vasa spoke with CWR about these and other topics, prior to his assignment in the Diocese of Santa Rosa. The full interview appears in the February issue of CWR.

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