PHILADELPHIA — Incoming Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput doesn't want the Roman Catholic church to lose members.
But he says it's not the place for so-called "cafeteria Catholics" who don't accept all of its teachings.
Chaput has condemned the University of Notre Dame for bestowing an award on President Obama, who supports abortion rights, and thinks Catholic politicians with the same beliefs should not take Holy Communion.
"If they don't believe what the church teaches, they're not really Catholic," Chaput told The Associated Press in an interview Tuesday, two days before his installation at the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul.
Chaput, 66, will lead an archdiocese shaken by two grand jury reports since 2005 into the church's handling of complaints of abuse by priests. Dozens of priests have been accused of molesting or raping children, and one, Monsignor William Lynn, is the first U.S. church official ever charged with a crime for allegedly transferring predators to new parishes.
Chaput's predecessor suspended about two dozen accused priests amid an outcry over the second grand jury report in February. They remain in limbo while the complaints are investigated, and some fellow priests wonder how they will ever return, if exonerated, to parish life.
Chaput, known for dealing firmly with abuse complaints as Denver's archbishop since 1997, pledged to complete the inquiries as quickly as possible.
"It's not good for anybody to be left hanging," he said. "It's not good for the victim, it's not good for the families of the victim, it's not good for the priests or the parishes that they serve." Chaput said.
"We have to make good judgments, as quickly as possible, for the sake of the common good," he said.
Chaput, a Native American born in Kansas, belongs to the Capuchin order, a branch of the Franciscans who espouse simplicity, poverty and prayer.
He believes the laity should play leadership roles in the church — and not just because of the shortage of priests.
"In the early church, I think most of the missionaries were lay people," Chaput said. "They're doing what they should do."
His installation also comes as unionized Catholic high school teachers go on strike and the archdiocese struggles, along with others across the country, with dwindling school enrollment, Mass attendance and revenue.
Yet the church, with about 500 active priests and nearly 1.5 million members in the Philadelphia Archdiocese, remains a powerful force in the region. About one-third of the area is Catholic.
Chaput succeeds Archbishop Justin Rigali, whose actions to address the sex-abuse crisis since 2003 were criticized by both the second grand jury and the head of his own reform panel. Chaput pledged to use his considerable skills as a communicator to heal the local church and its people.
"I'm not a magician, and I can't work miracles," he said. "(But) what I know about Philadelphia is, it has a grand and glorious history, and has a lot of accomplishments to be proud of."
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