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Statement of the Most Reverend Theodore McCarrick Upon His Appointment as Archbishop of Washington I want to begin by thanking Almighty God for this extraordinary grace of serving Him in the Archdiocese of Washington. I pray with all my heart that He will bless my ministry here with His Divine assistance, that He will allow me to serve the people of this great local Church with generosity and goodness and that He will make up for my many insufficiencies through the power of His Presence and the strength of His love. I am grateful to our beloved Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, for his trust and confidence in me. I ask you all to pray with me that I may always strive to be worthy of that trust. May the Church of Washington always continue to be a source of joy for His Holiness. If I may look back on my roots for a moment, I cannot neglect to express a word of heartfelt gratitude to the Church that has been my family for the past 15 years. I will, of course, miss the priests and bishops, the religious and the deacons and the wonderful people of the Archdiocese of Newark. Together with the Diocese of Metuchen, which will always be special to me, and the Archdiocese of New York for which I was ordained a priest, I can never think of the Church of Newark without the deepest affection. Many good things happened there in my time Ð not because of me but because of the deep faith and extraordinary charity of the faithful. It is the longest I have ever served in one place in my priesthood and I can never forget the abundant blessings which I have received through the kindness and the generosity and the constant support of those who will always be part of my family in the Church of Newark. And now, a new chapter begins. I am so proud to share it with Cardinal Hickey. He has been a star in my life for more than thirty years - a friend, a model, a great example. I still cherish the happy memory of journeying to his Episcopal Ordination in Saginaw in 1967 when I was serving as President of the Catholic University of Puerto Rico. I know him to be a good and holy man and I will always count on his wisdom, his example and his prayers. Bishop Olivier is also an old friend not just from our association in the BishopsÕ Conference but in a special way because of his friendship to the late Bishop Joseph Francis, who was Auxiliary Bishop in Newark for many years and a special man of God. Bishop Lori is surely one of the most talented of all the young bishops in our country. We have much in common since I, too, was privileged to serve as Secretary to a Cardinal, although I could never have given the Servant of God, Terence Cooke the same brilliant and dedicated help that Bishop Bill has given to Cardinal Hickey and now gives with such generosity and skill to the whole Church of Washington. The first appointment of my priesthood was in Puerto Rico. The second was Washington. Here I was sent in the Fall of 1958 to begin studies for a doctorate in Sociology at the Catholic University of America. I never became a great Sociologist, although I did serve the University as Chaplain, as Dean of Students and finally as fund-raiser -a role which I have never been able to escape in the forty-two years of my priestly ministry! During those years I have come so often in pilgrimage to the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception and I now stand in awe that I will have a special responsibility for that magnificent Basilica. The National Conference of Catholic Bishops here has often been a frequent goal of my journeys. I have been truly privileged to work with my brother bishops whose joyful friendship I treasure and whose example of devoted pastoral service to God and to their people I have tried Ð not always with the same success Ð to emulate. And now I find myself named to be the servant of the Church of Washington. To our priests and bishops, to the deacons, to the religious Sisters and Brothers, and to all the men and women of Faith who make up the family of this great local Church, I offer you everything I have, everything I can become with your prayers and with your help. No bishop in the Church of today can do anything by himself. It is only through your faith and your love that we do anything at all. That will be true of me in whatever years are ahead for me to serve you and to build up the Kingdom of our gracious Lord the mystery of Whose Providence we touch today. And so, we come together to this moment, this new adventure, this new challenge. I know you all appreciate the wisdom of the very popular expression "Life begins at 70!" Well here I am, beginning again. I am still a workaholic and thank God I am strong enough to keep working hard. I wish I were a holier man, more prayerful, more trusting in God, wiser and courageous. But here I am, with all my faults and all my needs and we will work together. Be of good heart, you may not have here as spiritual a shepherd, as devoted a father as Cardinal Hickey nor as brilliant and gentle a scholar as Cardinal Baum, nor as strong and far-seeing a leader as Cardinal O'Boyle, but this I promise you, I will love you and serve you with all my heart and together, with God's help and with the Virgin Mary's prayers, we will try to do great things for the Kingdom, where Jesus Christ is Lord. Thank you very much.
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