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ST. LOUIS — The Rev. Mitchell T. Rozanski was installed Tuesday as the 10th archbishop of the Archdiocese of St. Louis, the largest faith organization in the region.

Typically a packed affair, attendance at the Cathedral Basilica was thin. Only about 400 people with reservations were let in for the afternoon ceremony. Many were priests. Every other pew was intentionally left open to provide social distancing to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Despite the pandemic, Rozanski was officially made shepherd of about 500,000 Roman Catholics in St. Louis and 10 counties. He also has influence over Kenrick-Glennon Seminary in Shrewsbury and numerous schools, hospitals, religious communities and charities that serve the broader community.

It remains to be seen what kind of presence Rozanski will have in the archdiocese — whether his time in the pulpit will be a springboard into a more notable position in the global church or if he will concentrate on the work at hand here for years to come.

In his homily, he spoke about the challenges of COVID-19, systemic racism and civil discourse that “is not very civil� anymore.

“As Catholics, as Christians, we have to ask ‘Where is God in all this?’� Rozanski said, adding: “We are called to be a people of hope.�

Rozanski replaced Archbishop Robert J. Carlson, 76, who retired after 11 years at the helm. Carlson maintained a relatively low profile and has been described as a listener. Before him, Cardinal Raymond Burke was in charge and drew international headlines for his pronounced orthodoxy and affinity for traditional Catholic vestments and garments.

Pope Francis appointed Rozanski to St. Louis in June. Rozanski said at a news conference then that he was most happy as a parish priest. He said the pope’s 2013 teaching, , should essentially be the Magna Carta for Catholic leaders and the laity going forward.

On Tuesday, he continued to invoke Pope Francis by encouraging dialogue over rigidity, building bridges, instead of walls. One direction he gave was particularly explicit.

“Evangelization does not happen from behind a desk,� he said.

Several hymns in Spanish, as well as a direct statement from Rozanski from the pulpit, seemed like welcome embraces for the Latino community.

Notably, the installation ceremony was held on the Catholic feast day for Saint Louis. Although King Louis IX died in 1270, the statue of the armored saint on horseback atop Art Hill was a recent rallying point and target for Black Lives Matter and other protesters over the French monarch’s involvement in the Crusades.

Asked about his installation taking place on the feast day, Rozanski recently , a Jesuit publication, that Louis IX became a saint “because of his dedication to justice, to take care of the poor, to inviting his subjects to his table to dine with him.�

“So if we emulate what King Louis lived in his lifetime, we can find a way to work through, talk through and act upon these times of division and racial tension — all the ills of this day,� Rozanski said.

Springfield legacy

Over the summer, Rozanski has been transitioning to eastern Missouri from the Springfield diocese in western Massachusetts, where he served as bishop since 2014. Before that, he mainly worked for the church in Baltimore, which is where he grew up and his parents live. He has also served in leadership positions with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, including the Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs Committee and the Committee on the Protection of Children and Young People.

His stint at the Springfield diocese seemed to be a challenging assignment, as it continues to wrangle with its legacy of clergy sex abuse. In 2004, the first U.S. bishop indicted on sex abuse charges in the modern era was from there. State statutes of limitations were part of what hampered his .

Rozanski arrived in Springfield in 2014 around the time when a victim came forward about abuse he said he experienced in the 1960s by another former bishop there, the late Christopher J. Weldon and other clergy. In 2019, Rozanski eventually called for an independent investigation into the matter that ultimately reinforced what the victim had been saying for years.

“I want to apologize for the chronic mishandling of this case, time and time again since 2014,� Rozanski said at a news conference in June. “At almost every instance, we have failed this courageous man who nonetheless persevered thanks in part to a reliable support network as well to a deep desire for a just response for the terrible abuse which he endured.�

While Rozanski has touted reforms in Springfield, at least two members of the diocesan review board, which is supposed to weigh clergy sex abuse claims, quit amid outcry over its poor handling of the case. The board chairman said in an interview that he was even giving up being Catholic.

At least one victim advocate organization has publicly asked for Rozanski’s promotion to St. Louis archbishop to be stopped because of how the case in question was handled under his leadership. In July, Archbishop Christophe Pierre, the Vatican’s top diplomat to the United States, told the Post-Dispatch in a brief interview at the installation ceremony of the new bishop of Belleville that Rozanski’s installation would go on as planned.

Pierre said the Springfield case was being “examined� and the results were “not clear yet.� Other than that, Pierre, originally from France, said the reports coming out were “just by journalists.� Told that a retired superior court judge investigated, Pierre described the case as “complicated� and ended the interview.

Looking forward

Amid the transition to St. Louis, Rozanski has made public comments to encourage seminarians, Catholic educators and other members of the flock during the coronavirus pandemic. Through his spokesman Peter Frangie, Rozanski has not answered questions from the Post-Dispatch about any plans to give the review board in St. Louis a close look.

Two protesters outside his installation ceremony on Tuesday had the same question, including newcomer Kara Elms, a Catholic from unincorporated St. Charles County who said she’s fed up with how the church has handled clergy sex abuse cases in recent years.

Indeed, the archdiocese released a list of dozens of names last summer of former clergy credibly accused of sexually abusing minors, but she says the report fell short by not naming parish assignments and church officials haven’t done enough to inform neighborhoods of former clergy on the list.

“What personally is Rozanski doing to assure that no victim will be revictimized?� Elms, 35, asked. “What changes are you going to make right off the bat? This is an issue that needs to be addressed immediately.�

Not many, but a few people from the installation ceremony trickled over to the the edge of the cathedral property line to visit with the protesters as they stood in the sun holding signs. One or two offered water.