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Bishop Salvatore R. Matano, bishop of Burlington, Vt., since 2005, was named this morning bishop of Rochester, N.Y., replacing Bishop Matthew Clark, who turned 75 -- mandatory retirement age for bishops -- in July 2012.
Matano is a native of Providence, R.I, After his priesthood ordination in 1971, he served as Vicar for Administration and Co-Chancellor and then Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia for the Providence diocese as well as a parish pastor. He has served two stints as Secretary to the Apostolic Nuncio in Washington DC, 19991-1992 and 2000-2005. He is 67 years old. For more bio read this.
Matano appears four times in the NCR archives:
Now that Vermont allows doctor-prescribed suicide, "the magnificent landscape of this state, which echoes life from its majestic mountains to its powerful waterways, no longer is reflected in the laws which govern the Green Mountain State," said the head of the statewide Diocese of Burlington.
"Vermont is now identified as one of the few death states where it is legal for life to be terminated at its beginning and end stages," said Bishop Salvatore Matano in a statement issued May 20, a little more than an hour after Gov. Peter Shumlin signed into law a bill legalizing physician-assisted suicide.
In a story titled "Bar is set low in acceptance of year-old English missal," Bishop Matano opposes any delay in implementing the new missal translation:
Matano was of a different mind. He thinks it would be "counterproductive" to critique the new missal, when "so many of us are doing everything possible … to create unity in our dioceses." Critique "only opens the door for further criticism and disunity." We should simply accept the missal, support and encourage it, and use it to "communicate again the awesome and transcendent nature of the liturgy." With proper preparation for the Mass, the new texts "can be prayed in a very beautiful manner."
In the midst of the swine flu epidemic, several bishops across the U.S. ordered the distribution of the blood of Christ to be suspended and instructed pastors to ensure ministers of Communion wash their hands before the Communion rite and all vessels should be properly sanitized after ritual purification.
Bishop Salvatore R. Matano of Burlington, Vt., encouraged similar measures in his state, which had not had any cases of swine flu as of April 30. He said Catholics "should be encouraged to thank God, by faithful attendance at holy Mass, that we have been spared thus far from this influenza and to pray for those afflicted by this illness and for all public health officials as they guide us in eradicating this threat."
Bishop Matano has a small part in this feature titled "Hammering kids for Christ" about a controversial, "scared straight" type of Catholic youth ministry run by Justin Fatica, who was the subject of an HBO film, "Hard as Nails." Matano suspended Fatica's ministry in Burlington after parents complained that he had scared the bejeebes out of some the their kids.
Bishop Clark
In 2010, NCR ran an excerpt of Bishop Matthew Clark's book, Forward in Hope: Saying Amen to Lay Ecclesial Ministry. The excerpt came from the chapter titled “One Bishop’s Story.” by Bishop Matthew H. Clark of Rochester, N.Y.
