With the installation of a new Roman Catholic Archbishop of Boston, the Boston church at last seems ready to turn the page and move on.

It has been a tumultuous 18 months, since the Boston Globe first reported in January last year on the wrongdoings of defrocked priest John Geoghan. The church here and in other areas of the country has been mired in scandal after scandal, of child abuse and cover-up by the hierarchy. The media quickly labeled it a "crisis in the church," and the continuing wave of reports of smarmy wrongdoing and evident crimes committed in the name of church secrecy were enough to make even the most devout Catholic feel grief-stricken and heartsick.

But the crisis is over. A new church leader, Seán O'Malley, has been installed as the sixth Archbishop of Boston, and as the new leader in this archdiocese it is his unique task to lead the church faithful out of its recent troubled past and into the future with the mission of the church.

It is time, too for the Boston media to put aside its largely ill-informed coverage of the Catholic Church, and to cease passing on management tips to this new church leader. The Boston Globe deserves a good measure of credit for its magnificent job in uncovering the criminal misdeeds in the church over the past 40 years. The newspaper did its journalistic job well, and was awarded with a Pulitzer Prize for its efforts.

Seemingly emboldened by its success, some Globe writers have the misimpression that their job continues to be one of advise and consent with the new Archbishop. But within the church, faithful members understand that O'Malley is under no obligation to take advice on matters of religion from people who do not fully share his religious beliefs. The Catholic Church is, after all, a community of people with shared and common beliefs. It need take no advice from fallen away members of the flock.

In his first homily as Archbishop, as reported by the newspaper the Pilot, O'Malley said, in part:

"How we ultimately deal with the present crisis in our church will do much to define us as Catholics of the future. If we do not flee from the cross of pain and humiliation, if we stand firm in who we are and what we stand for, if we work together- hierarchy, priests, religious, laity&endash;to live our faith and fulfill our mission, then we will be a stronger and a holier church...

"We gather here with so many priests, so many good priests, struggling to make sense out of it all. But today, I tell you Jesus never promised that nothing would go wrong, but yes, He promised to be with us in our darkest hours...

"Never forget that serving Christ and our people is worth suffering for. We are all so grateful to our laity who have been so supportive of their Church during these times of trouble. To those who have stepped away, I invite you to return to help rebuild our Church and carry on the mission Christ entrusted to us...

"In a community of faith, we learn to worship our God, to forgive one another and to serve those around us. We discover the true dignity of each and every person made in the image and likeness of God. No matter how small the unborn, no matter how debilitated and unproductive the aged and infirm, we must take care of each other. No one is expendable. Each and every person counts in God's sight. The Gospel of Life will always be the centerpiece of the Church's social Gospel."

It is clear that the new church leader intends to rebuild and restore the church, and that he intends to do it from within.

- Ed Forry