Legatus welcomes its new international chaplain

Bishop Robert Morlino

International chaplain

Known for his keen intellect, fidelity to the Church and focus on vocations, Bishop Robert Morlino of the Diocese of Madison, Wisc., is the new International Chaplain for Legatus. A native of Scranton, Pa., Bishop Morlino was ordained a priest for the Society of Jesus in 1974. He taught 11 years at Jesuit schools until he was incardinated into the Kalamazoo, Mich., diocese in 1981. Pope John Paul II appointed him bishop of Helena, Mont., in 1999. Four years later, he was assign to Madison. He is the fourth Legatus chaplain.

What has been your interaction with Legatus up to this point?

I was somewhat involved in speaking to chapters when I was in Michigan. We were planning to establish a chapter in the Diocese of Kalamazoo.

I have had a lot of interaction with business people. Usually I take a half-day off on Saturday and watch one of those business shows on Fox. It’s never very conclusive, I must say. If you don’t know a lot about it already, you certainly couldn’t decide what stocks to buy watching those guys. (Laughs.)

What do you hope to bring to Legatus as the new chaplain?

I think I was asked to take on this role because I’m willing to stand up on serious issues — especially life, death, marriage and other issues regarding the natural law. Legatus is looking for somebody who can give clear direction on complicated moral issues. It’s very important to give clear explanations when you are dealing with highly educated people.

You have a philosophy and bioethics background, and some of the more pressing issues of our day are bioethical questions. Have we done enough teaching in these areas?

The short answer to that is No, but it’s not for a lack of trying. People are so busy with other things that the priority to become well-educated in these areas is low. It gets forced down by other needs — sometimes by family needs, sometimes by business pressures, sometimes by health problems.

I’m chairman of the board at the National Catholic Bioethics Center, and we are trying to help bishops help their priests and laypeople to get tuned in to these issues. But again, catechesis has to be a top priority.

In order for bioethics to make sense, people have to know who Jesus Christ is. If people are not tuned into the grace of Christ, they cannot follow the natural law regarding bioethics. That can’t be done under human willpower. That can only be done under grace. People aren’t so thrilled about being given rules to follow that they don’t understand.

What impact do you think Legatus has had on the U.S. Church over the past 21 years?

Legatus has had a profound impact on the Church in the U.S. because usually the bishop or a trusted priest is directly involved in Legatus as chaplain. It’s rare that you have an organization in which the bishop is so directly involved.

The lay mission of the Church transforms the world into the kingdom of God — and transforms the Culture of Death into the Culture of Life. Who better to take the lead in that lay mission than the kind of men and women in Legatus? The bishops have realized that the lay mission is a mission of leadership vis-à-vis the world, and here we have these people who are obviously leaders in their professions. So it’s natural for them to become leaders in the lay mission of the Church.

These leaders are being formed through Legatus in all of the qualities and competences that they need to become leaders of the Church, building upon their natural leadership capacities that they practice in their professions.