Phoenix ? Thomas Olmsted became the new spiritual leader of more than 470,000 Catholics in Arizona when he was installed Saturday as the fourth bishop of the scandal-ridden Diocese of Phoenix.

Olmsted, the bishop of Wichita, Kan., since 2001, replaces Bishop Thomas O’Brien, who resigned in June after a tenure that ended with allegations of abuse by priests and his arrest in a fatal hit-and-run accident.

Olmsted told a crowd of 1,200 that honesty and determination should be used in protecting children from sexual abuse.

“Whatever we do to them, we do to Christ,” he said.

The diocese was thrown into turmoil in June after prosecutors announced an immunity deal with O’Brien that spared the church leader indictment on obstruction charges for protecting priests accused of child molestation.

Already facing criticism for the deal, O’Brien resigned after he was charged with leaving the scene of a fatal accident involving a pedestrian.

O’Brien, whose resignation came two weeks after the immunity deal was announced, didn’t report the accident to police but told investigators later that he didn’t realize he had hit a person. His trial is expected to begin Jan. 12.

Supporters of O’Brien, bishop of the diocese since 1981, said negative publicity from the sexual abuse cases had obscured the former church leader’s contributions.

The Phoenix diocese, for example, was one of the first dioceses in the early 1990s to establish policies aimed at addressing sexual abuse, O’Brien supporters said.

Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted, center, kneels before the altar at the start of his installation as the fourth bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Phoenix. Olmsted became the troubled diocese's new spiritual leader at Saturday's ceremony.

Since O’Brien’s resignation, the church had been under the temporary leadership of Santa Fe Archbishop Michael Sheehan.

While Sheehan helped carry the Phoenix diocese through a rough period, Catholics are relieved to get a permanent bishop, said Jim Bruner, a businessman and longtime lay leader in the diocese.

“I think the people would like all the controversy to go away,” Bruner said.

Mending ahead

Olmsted must continue repairing church leadership’s relationship with Maricopa County’s top prosecutor and enforce policies to prevent future abuse cases, said Donna Killoughey Bird, an attorney who leads the diocese’s chief fund-raising campaign.

“He has got to have high demands and make priests and everyone accountable,” she said. “I think he can do that.”

The Wichita diocese, which covers the southeastern quarter of Kansas, had priests removed because of sexual abuse allegations, but Olmsted has said the removals were made by his predecessor.

Critics say Olmsted set up a strong abuse prevention program but that the Wichita diocese hasn’t disclosed enough information about past cases.

Paul Pfaffenberger, organizer of the Phoenix chapter of the Survivors’ Network of Those Abused by Priests and a practicing Catholic, said he was optimistic about Olmsted.

“I would hope this is a new start for the Diocese of Phoenix and that he won’t follow the history of his predecessor,” Pfaffenberger said.

Olmsted’s strengths

The Rev. Robert Hemberger, chancellor of the Wichita Diocese, said Olmsted’s outreach to Hispanics in Kansas would serve him well in Arizona, where a quarter of the population is Hispanic.

Under Olmsted’s leadership in Wichita, more Spanish masses were celebrated and more money was made available for Spanish-speaking students to attend Catholic schools, Hemberger said.

“He will listen to the culture and find out what works here,” Hemberger said.