cases. Vlazny described his actions by saying, "This is not an effort to avoid responsibility. It is, in fact, the only way I can assure that other claimants can be offered fair compensation." In January 2010, Vlazny defended his loan of money to Angel Armando Perez, an archdiocese priest, to cover legal expenses, Perez had been indicted in Marion County, Oregon, on first-degree sexual abuse and abuse of a child in the display of sexually explicit conduct. While condemning the alleged criminal actions. Vlazny expressed a need to help a beloved fellow priest. In April 2010, Vlazny called for parishioners to cancel their subscriptions to The Oregonian, declaring it guilty of "Catholic bashing." The newspaper's editors, he said, "arrogantly scolded the church for its past failures in handling this matter of child sexual abuse." The newspaper had run an editorial, an editorial cartoon and a syndicated column by E.J. Dionne on how the church had dealt with sexual abuse crime. On January 29, 2013, Pope Benedict XVI announced the acceptance of Vlazny's resignation as archbishop of Portland, with Bishop Alexander Sample to succeed him. Viewpoints Euthanasia An opponent of assisted suicide, Vlazny supported the unsuccessful repeal of the Oregon Death with Dignity Act, saying,"Many have expressed a dread about what will happen when the power over life and death may be put into the hands of a society that is driven by economics, expedience and efficiency, a society that flees from suffering, weakness or limitations of any kind." In 1998, when the first legal assisted suicide occurred in Oregon, Vlazny declared that the death "can only bring anguish to those who have resisted the public policy initiatives that changed the law in Oregon." Abortion During the 2004 U.S. presidential election, Vlazny said Catholic politicians who supported abortion rights, such as Democratic presidential nominee Senator John Kerry, should refrain from receiving Communion. See also Catholic Church hierarchy Catholic Church in the United States Historical list of the Catholic bishops of the United States List of Catholic bishops of the United States Lists of patriarchs, archbishops, and bishops References External links Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Portland Official Site Archbishop John G. Vlazny is a member the Catholic United Investment Trust Biography of Archbishop John G. Vlazny 1937 births Living people 20th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in the United States 21st-century Roman Catholic archbishops in the United States Roman Catholic archbishops of Portland in