A Massachusetts bishop has apologized after he was arrested for drink-driving following a hit and run accident in Rhode Island.

The Boston Herald reports that Worcester Bishop Robert McManus (61) was arrested Saturday night in Narragansett, R.I.

His arrest followed a hit and run when the driver of the other vehicle followed McManus and called police. Officers arrested McManus at his nearby vacation home.

Bishop McManus admitted in a statement: “I made a terrible error in judgment by driving after drinking wine at dinner.

“There is no excuse for the mistake I made, only a commitment to make amends and accept the consequences of my action.”

The Herald reports that Bishop McManus also asked for forgiveness from his friends, family and the people he serves.

He is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday in South Kingstown, R.I., on charges of drunken driving and leaving the scene of an accident.

The Bishop declined to take a blood alcohol test and faces an additional civil charge of refusing to submit to a chemical test, which will he heard before a traffic tribunal at a later time.

The report says McManus is a Providence, R.I., native and served as auxiliary bishop in Providence for five years, before he was installed as head of the Worcester Diocese in 2004.

He is a past chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Education.
Bishop McManus made headlines a year ago when he pressured Anna Maria College, a Catholic school in Paxton, to rescind its invitation to U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy’s widow, Victoria Reggie Kennedy, to deliver its commencement address.

The bishop objected to her public support for abortion rights and gay marriage, which are against church teachings.

Kennedy later accepted an invitation to give the keynote address at commencement for the Boston College School of Law, a Catholic school in the Boston Archdiocese.