June 12, 2019 – Baltimore, MD

“Let’s have a conversation, and may it lead us
into a closer relationship with one another
and with our wonderful God.”​

Bishop John Michael

I have long been very aware that I don’t communicate enough. As if I didn’t know it already, I am reminded again and again by the folks I am blessed to work with in Canton (principally Raul and Father Iuliu, in case you’re interested) that I need to “get my voice out there” much more than I ever have.

Now, I have to admit that this scares me, and not a little. I am a perfectionist by nature and habit, and this is not a virtue, believe me. It is a curse that, if it indicates nothing else, demonstrates a real lack of humility in a person. So I stress out about whether what I say will be intelligible, whether it will be worth anyone’s time to read it, and so on. I also get cold feet: if I start something, will I be able to continue it?

And so it is that I have allowed myself, more and more over the years, to be overwhelmed by secondary issues and less important tasks, and have not done enough to communicate. But who am I to communicate? What am I to say? How am I supposed to say it? And above all, why say anything at all?

As it happens, I am a bishop: your bishop. It is my responsibility to get the word of God out there for your salvation and consolation. The Gospel is indeed a consoling word, but it doesn’t proclaim itself. It needs to be spoken, said out loud, in the context of a real person-to-person relationship.

Writing a blog is not the most personal way of getting the a message out, but it is something, and it is really more than I have done for a very long time.

I am currently in Baltimore, taking part in the Spring meeting of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Since the Second Vatican Council, national episcopal conferences have come into existence so that the Catholic hierarchy of a nation can work together in dealing with pastoral issues and speak with a common voice to their country. As you can well imagine, the pastoral issue of the moment continues to involve the clergy sexual abuse, but at this time it has less to do with the problem in general and more to do with what we, the bishops, have failed and what we must do to provide greater accountability and transparency in our dealing with the issue. We can and must do a whole lot better than we have up to now.

Dealing with this issue at this meeting has caused me to think much more deeply about my work as a bishop, what I have done, and the many ways in which I have not done as well as I should have in all the many aspects of this ministry. I am pretty well convinced at this point that I must try harder, much harder, simply to let you know what I do with my time, what issues I face (and what issues I believe we all face as members of the Romanian Greek-Catholic Church in the USA and Canada), and what has been on my mind.

So I’m starting here. Maybe I’ll fail at this—I honestly have no idea where I will find the time to do this regularly—but I’m going to give it a try. They say not to begin anything with an apology, so I won’t do that, despite my personal insecurity (and, of course, perfectionism!). Writing this is, for now, a work in progress, and I will hope to find ways to not only write you, but to receive your (kind, I hope) feedback on what I write, as well as anything else that you have on your mind. Please be aware that setting up the “feedback” part of this will take some time. Meanwhile, feel free to email me at jmbotean@romaniancatholic.org. I am the world’s slowest correspondent, and I’m always horribly behind on email, so I may not answer your email quickly, and perhaps not at all. I promise, though, that I will read every email you send me.

Pray for me, as I am praying for you. Let’s have a conversation, and may it lead us into a closer relationship with one another. Especially, may it lead us into a closer relationship with our wonderful God.

Many blessings!