Machado no longer vicar general of diocese
Monsignor Clement Machado, the second-highest ranking official in the Catholic Diocese of Memphis, has resigned his position as vicar general for the Roman Catholic network in West Tennessee, according to a letter from Bishop Martin Holley.
In the letter dated last Friday, Holley accepted Machado’s resignation from three key diocesan offices to give the monsignor time for his final year of study to obtain his licentiate degree in Canon Law. The bishop also said the monsignor needed time to help his recently-widowed mother.
However, Machado’s resignation comes less than 10 days after a pair of archbishops visited Memphis on a factfinding mission regarding Holley’s actions since becoming bishop in August, 2016. Diocesan sources said one of the factors was the assignment of Machado as vicar general.
The results of that visit have not been made public.
Holley’s letter was forwarded to The Commercial Appeal. Vince Higgins, spokesman for the diocese, confirmed the letter’s authenticity and the details in the correspondence. He declined any further comment on the matter, referring all questions to the letter’s contents.
“I have accepted his resignation and granted him permission to devote himself more exclusively to studies, effective June 30, 2018,” Holley wrote in Friday’s letter to the diocesan priests. “I want to sincerely and profoundly thank Monsignor Machado for his ministry to me and the Diocese of Memphis in Tennessee.”
In addition to vicar general, Machado