RESIGNATION
Michael Ritty, a canon lawyer at Canon Law Professionals in New York, said it could be years, or just days, before Campbell hears whether his resignation has been accepted. Whether the resignation is accepted by the pope depends on the health of the particular bishop, the state of the diocese, and other possible individual circumstances, Ritty said.
“Eventually (resignations) will be accepted and a new bishop appointed,” Ritty said.
Some Catholic leaders have served three or four years beyond when they submitted their mandatory resignation, Ritty said, citing Cardinal Donald Wuerl, who remains the archbishop of Washington, D.C., despite turning 75 in November 2015. Wuerl came under increasing pressure Tuesday to resign in the wake of a grand jury investigation in Pennsylvania that called out his handling of sexually abusive priests while bishop of the Pittsburgh Catholic Diocese.
Campbell succeeded Bishop James A. Griffin, who resigned at age 70 due to health reasons after more than 20 years of leading the diocese. Griffin now lives in Powell.
When Campbell was announced as Columbus’ 11th bishop in October 2004, he was 61 and serving as auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.
Campbell was born in Elmira, New York, and was ordained in 1980. He attended Ohio State for his master’s and doctoral degrees in history and then entered the seminary in 1976.
“I have not arrived here with a roll of blueprints and a large set of specifications,” he said in January Bishop Frederick Campbell, shown in 2013, came to the Catholic Diocese of Columbus after serving as auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. 2005 when he was installed as bishop. He wanted to instill in parishioners “a love for the church, a love of preaching the Gospel, drawing people to full maturity in Jesus Christ, calling them to their specific obligations in life and to society.”
Before serving a year, Campbell had appeared before an Ohio legislative committee to testify against a bill to give victims of sexual abuse by priests a yearlong window to sue alleging abuse that occurred as long as 35 years before.
He also had visited 90 percent of the diocese’s 105 parishes and determined the diocese’s finances to be in good shape.
In March 2007, Campbell had a mild heart attack and had a stent put in. In 2009, his left leg was amputated below the knee due to squamous-cell carcinoma and a bone infection in his foot that wouldn’t heal. He wears a prosthesis.
Sarah Reinhard, 41, of Milford Center, has been a Catholic since 2001 and has seen Campbell’s whole tenure as bishop.
“As a Catholic in the pews, I think he’s done a great job,” said Reinhard, a Catholic author. “My interactions with him have been positive; he’s a great preacher and supporter of the faith.”