Grace under pressure
On eve of retirement, NJCC director describes how he relied on restraint in legislative trenches
By Chris Donahue
Staff Writer
TRENTON — After locking horns with defense lawyers as a prosecutor for several years, William F. Bolan Jr. turned his passion for justice to wrangling with politicians in the statehouse, first as a lobbyist for the Attorney General’s Office, then for the state’s bishops as executive director of the New Jersey Catholic Conference.
In May, after serving nearly 22 years as the spokesman for N.J. bishops and as an advocate for legislation that supports church teaching, Bolan announced his retirement. He plans to serve until late July or August, when his replacement will be familiar with the job. A search committee was scheduled to interview two candidates for the post June 23.
During a May 24 interview in his office, Bolan said he has no regrets about his time with the conference.
“Without a doubt it’s the best job I’ve had in my professional life, but it kind of wore me out,” Bolan said. “It’s important to know when the time has come to leave a job so you leave on a high note. I think I’ve done a good job here. I’m proud of what I’ve done.
“I’m looking for the first year as a sabbatical with a mandate from my wife to prune my extensive collection of books,” Bolan added with a laugh. “[ Trenton] Bishop [ John M.] Smith and I commiserate all the time because he and I are both book buyers and book lovers…
“I would like to volunteer. I’m thinking of a hospital board and also I to love exercise by walking, and I intend to spend more time outdoors doing that.”
Legal legacy
Bolan’s service to the church and improving the human condition nearly came through the priesthood. Prior to attending law school at Seton Hall University, South Orange, Bolan studied theology at Immaculate Conception Seminary, Darlington. But because he did not want to live a celibate life and had a desire to follow in the footsteps of his father, a lawyer, he left the seminary.
After graduating from law school in 1968, Bolan served as a clerk for Judge Leo W. Kapp in Essex County, as an assistant prosecutor in Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, as a partner/associate in the firm Herrigel, Bolan & Manahan in Millburn, and in several positions in the Attorney General’s Office in Trenton.
Bolan tried more than 125 criminal jury trials in Superior Court and prepared briefs and delivered oral arguments in appeals of criminal convictions in the Appellate Division and the Supreme Court.
Among his accomplishments, he developed a tracking system for all pending criminal justice legislation, and he administered a statewide training program to educate more than 20,000 law enforcement officers in the N.J. Code of Criminal Justice.
On behalf of the Attorney General’s Office, Bolan drafted and guided to enactment the Racketeer and Corrupt Organization Act, revised the N.J. Code of Criminal Justice and assisted in the drafting of the Casino Control Act.
Learning the ropes
Bolan, 63, applied for the NJCC position after growing tired of work in the Attorney General’s Office. He was offered the job by the head of the search committee, then Metuchen Bishop Theodore E. McCarrick.
“It was all on the job training and in the beginning. I was scared to death (of the media),” he said.
Although he has grown to enjoy spending time with reporters, it has not always been a pleasant experience.
“What always irritated me is most calls are what I call the dueling sound bites,” Bolan said.
He also gets frustrated at the lack of attention to adult stem cell research in the secular media. Still, he says accepting the job was the best decision he ever made.
“Private practice of the law is a very tough, cut-throat business. It was not pleasant. I hated it. I like the public service I did and I love this job,” Bolan said.
Dealing with the bishops is the best part of the job, according to Bolan, mainly because of the mutual respect they have for each other.
Bolan said he has always been a practicing Catholic, but the job has given him “a greater appreciation for how hard it is for the church, because it is so counter-cultural, to get its message across in modern America.”
Despite some long work days, the job did not affect his personal life, with the exception of one friendship.
“I went to dinner with a couple … and I don’t know why, but they baited me about the abortion issue. It just never stopped,” he said. “I’m not a grudge holder, but that one really wounded me and I still would like to make amends someday about that.”
To prevent similar problems with his lawyer friends, Bolan said he no longer discusses politics or religion. “I firmly believe it’s very hard to convince someone on either side of an issue,” he said. “It’s the mushy middle you can convince.”
Tragedies and triumphs
Bolan said his time on the legislative front lines has left him “a little jaded about politics; even more so about the national scene.” Partisanship, in particular, troubles him. As to whether Democrats or Republicans have been more responsive to Catholics in New Jersey on a broad spectrum of issues, Bolan said both are “good and bad to the extent that there are people who support us on some things and don’t on others.”
The one thing about being a lobbyist, he added, is that it’s endemic to his personality. “Someone once told me, ‘You’re not a good liar, Bill.’”
When asked what advice he will give to his successor, Bolan said: “Always smile, even if you are losing, especially if the TV cameras are covering you. The trouble is you always have to live to fight another day as a lobbyist. You have to use restraint.”
Bolan said his biggest disappointments were seeing a parental notification law overturned by the New Jersey Supreme Court and a ban on partial birth abortion on demand overturned by the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia.
He cited formulating diocesan policies to respond to allegations of child sexual abuse and getting a partial tax exemption change in the law that helped [the church] lease buildings to other charities or nonprofit organizations as his major achievements.
He is also proud of the role the NJCC played in the passage of a pro-life bill that allows a mother to leave a newborn in places such as a police station without being prosecuted.
He prioritizes the top issues in order of importance for Catholics in New Jersey as pro-life, educational choice (vouchers), and social justice issues such as immigration and affordable housing.
Serious challenge
Pointing to shelves of files on clergy sex abuse, Bolan said the issue has consumed most of his time for the past three years. The NJCC’s role in formulating its diocesan policies to address the issue was reason why New Jersey dioceses were able to cope with allegations better than in Boston, he said.
“Boston covered all of the United States like Sherwin-Williams paint spreading over the world, and through that unrelenting publicity caused us all to have to defend ourselves, sometime unfairly,” he added.
Bolan said the ripple effect of the scandal was best described by one of his colleagues, who said: ‘We used to wear the white hats in the legislature. Now we wear the black hats.’
“It dealt a serious blow to the credibility of the Catholic Church in the public forum, and some legislators had the bad grace to tell it to our face,” Bolan said.
Even when the NJCC pointed out that more public school than non-parochial school teachers face criminal charges for abusing children, legislators told him, ‘Clean up your own house first, Mr. Bolan, before you point to the public school teachers.’
Among the complaints the NJCC hears is how some churches allow clergy to endorse political candidates, so bishops and priests should be able to tell people who to vote for.
However, that would violate IRS regulations, which prohibit a 501(c)(3) corporation, which includes most nonprofit groups, including religious organizations, from directly or indirectly supporting or opposing a political candidate. The rules also forbid contributions to political candidates.
“The same regulations allow us to talk about issues and legislation,” Bolan said. “That’s why the bishops and my staff can speak out on issues. But we can’t say, ‘Oppose Assemblyman X and support Assemblyman Y.’
“To the extent that certain churches do it and their ministers allow people into the pulpit before an election is selective enforcement as far as I am concerned; grossly unfair.”
The regulations may also prevent a parish from being divided along party or ideological lines.
Reaching consensus
The bishops in the conference reach decisions through consensus. In Bolan’s time as executive director, they have always reached one.
Bolan meets with the bishops on a quarterly basis to discuss all the top issues and schedules telephone conferences for ad hoc issues that arise.
“The bishops fall into two categories, those who immediately say, ‘I don’t like the law, but we’ll follow it.’ Cardinal McCarrick was in that category,” Bolan said. “There are other bishops who will argue and argue and then finally they will say, ‘It is the law.’”
Former colleagues, reacting to Bolan’s retirement, were unambiguous in their praise.
Cardinal McCarrick, in a letter to Bolan, said, “The work that you have accomplished for the Church in New Jersey, despite so many obstacles — some of them caused by us, indeed — has been enormously important for our Catholic community and I am sure that all of us feel as I do that you have been one of the most important factors in the history of the Catholic Church in the state of New Jersey in the last score of years.”
Newark Archbishop John J. Myers, NJCC president, said, “There are so many things about Bill Bolan about which I could speak — his commitment to the church and all she teaches, his professionalism, his knowledge of the New Jersey political arena, his ability to look at life with just enough Irish to make difficult times enjoyable…
“In many ways, he personifies the Ernest Hemingway term, ‘grace under pressure.’ But while Hemingway may have used those words to describe the quality of courage, I prefer to think of ‘grace under pressure’ in its more pure sense — that Bill was and is a gift from God at a moment when we most need it.”
Bishop Emeritus Edward T. Hughes, who worked with Bolan as leader of the Diocese of Metuchen from 1987 until his retirement in 1997, commented, “The Catholic people of New Jersey have lost a strong champion of their rights and the rights of all people, especially the most vulnerable.
“Bill Bolan has been a most patient and determined advocate for justice and concern for the poor and the marginalized. We all will miss him and his devotion to Catholic principles of justice and mercy.”
Jennifer A. Ruggiero, diocesan director, Office of Pro-Life Activities, who has worked with Bolan for more than nine years, said, “I have always found him to be very straightforward and very knowledgeable. He has been a teacher to me with regards to public policy and effective lobbying.”
Assemblyman Peter J. Barnes, D-18th District (East Brunswick, Edison, Helmetta, Metuchen, South Plainfield, South River and Spotswood), who has both opposed and supported positions held by the NJCC, described Bolan as “the consummate gentleman, dignified and a great representative of the Catholic Conference and the diocese.”
NJCC is bishops’ legislative watchdog Founded in 1947, the New Jersey Catholic Conference is composed of the Catholic bishops of the Latin Rite dioceses, the Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Passaic and Our Lady of Deliverance Syriac Catholic Diocese. Under the leadership of Archbishop John J. Myers, the conference’s major objective is to provide a means by which the bishops may speak on matters of public policy. In expressing the views of the church, the conference addresses a wide range of issues in the areas of morality, health, welfare, education and human and civil rights. Recommendations concerning these issues are formulated by its Public Policy Committee under an episcopal chairman. As executive director, Bolan is responsible for reviewing legislation, administrative regulations and court decisions; appearing before legislative committees and formulating and disseminating official statements of the conference. Bolan also maintains liaison with state and federal legislators and government agencies and is responsible for preparation of an annual budget to be submitted to the bishops. Every bill introduced in the state legislature is reviewed by staff and a determination is made as to whether the subject matter is of concern to the interests represented by the conference. The conference also initiates legislation by preparing bills and suggests amendments to pending legislation by consulting sources such as diocesan school superintendents and directors of social concerns, Catholic Charities, hospital, family life and religious education. The conference staff is composed of Marlene Laó-Collins, associate director for social concerns; George V. Corwell, associate director for education; attorney Elmer M. Matthews, counselor and former Assembly speaker, and two support staff. The executive director is also responsible for the supervision and administration of the staff, which monitors proposed legislation and administrative regulations at the state level. The staff also works in conjunction with the Office of General Counsel and the Office of Government Liaison of the U.S. Catholic Conference in matters involving federal legislation and administrative regulations. For more information about the NJCC, visit the Web site http://www.njcathconf.com/. |
*The attached/referenced article was originally published in The Catholic Spirit, the official newspaper of the Diocese of Metuchen, and is protected under U.S. and international copyright law