Vatican City, Apr 10, 2008-Pope Benedict XVI has named five new bishops for the United States, the largest number of prelates named in a single instance by a Pope during the last 10 years. The new bishops are Bishop Richard Edmund Pates of Des Moines, Bishop Anthony Basil Taylor of Little Rock, Auxiliary Bishop James Douglas Conley of Denver, Auxiliary Bishop Oscar Cantu of San Antonio and Auxiliary Bishop William J. Justice of San Francisco.
Des Moines
The third consecutive auxiliary bishop from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has been appointed to be bishop of the Diocese of Des Moines. Bishop Richard E. Pates has been named the ninth bishop of Des Moines, Iowa.
In a statement from the Diocese of Des Moines, Bishop Pates, 65, states, “I am ever so grateful to His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, for appointing me as the ninth bishop of Des Moines. It is a welcome privilege to be called to serve such a vibrant, spirited community in America’s heartland. It is a particular honor to succeed Bishop Charron, a good friend and a conscientious shepherd and effective leader.”
Bishop Joseph L. Charron, who announced his retirement last year expressed his delight in the appointment of Bishop Pates. “I am very pleased with the announcement of Pope Benedict’s appointment of Bishop Richard Pates as the next bishop of Des Moines. Personally, I have known Bishop Pates for many years, since we worked closely together in Washington, D.C, in the late ’70s. I consider him a friend and look forward to working with him in serving the good people of southwest Iowa.”
Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, Bishop Pates attended Nazareth Hall Seminary and later St. Paul Seminary there. He was ordained a priest in 1968 and a bishop in 2001.
Bishop Pates has served in several roles since ordination: vocation director, secretary to the archbishop, vice chancellor of the archdiocese, rector of St. Johan Vianney Seminary in St. Paul, moderator for the Minneapolis Deaneries Council of Catholic Women, and auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.
Archbishop Harry J. Flynn, of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, said: “I am delighted that Bishop Pates has been named by the Holy Father to become ordinary of the Diocese of Des Moines. He is a person of outstanding quality and exemplary administrative ability with a pastoral touch that is sorely needed in the church today. I will miss him, but I send him to the priests, women religious and people of Des Moines with my best wishes and congratulate them for receiving such an outstanding leader.”
Bishop Pates will be installed as bishop of Des Moines on May 29 and will serve 97,000 people in 82 parishes.
Little Rock
Today Pope Benedict appointed Father Anthony B. Taylor as the seventh bishop of Little Rock. Bishop-elect Taylor is currently a priest in the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and will replace Bishop J. Peter Sartain who was appointed to the Diocese of Joliet, Illinois in 2006.
According to the Diocese of Little Rock, Bishop-elect Taylor was born in Texas in 1954 and is the oldest of seven children. After studying at St. Meinrad Seminary College in Indiana and later in Rome, he was ordained a priest in 1980.
The bishop-elect also earned his doctorate in biblical theology from Fordham University in 1989.
Since ordination Father Taylor has served as vicar for ministries; minister to priests; director of the permanent diaconate Program; chairman of the Presbyteral Council, Clergy Personnel Board and Clergy Retirement Board; and as a member of the Archdiocesan Finance Council. He also has extensive experience in Hispanic ministry.
While serving as a priest in the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, Bishop-elect Taylor Father Taylor also became the episcopal delegate for the cause of canonization for Father Stanley Rother, an Oklahoma priest who was martyred in Guatemala in 1981. The Archdiocese of Oklahoma City sponsored and staffed a parish there from 1963-2001.
Father Taylor will replace Bishop J. Peter Sartain who has been serving as the bishop of Joliet, Illinois since June 2006.
Auxiliary Bishop, San Antonio
At 5 a.m. Central Time this morning, the Vatican announced that Pope Benedict has named Fr. Oscar Cantú as an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of San Antonio, making him the youngest bishop in the United States and ninth youngest in the world.
Archbishop José Gomez introduced Bishop‐elect Cantú at a press conference this morning, saying, “Bishop‐elect Cantú will be a blessing to the people of the Archdiocese of San Antonio. His knowledge of the faith and well‐rounded pastoral experience has prepared him well for the work that is ahead of him.”
Bishop-elect Cantú reacted to the news of his appointment by saying, “I am humbled by the confidence the Holy Father has shown in me and I look forward to getting to know the people of the Archdiocese of San Antonio.”
Bishop‐elect Cantú was born and raised in Houston, TX, attended Catholic school in Houston and was ordained a priest for the then Diocese of Galveston‐Houston in May of 1994. Since his ordination, he served in a number of parishes in the Houston metropolitan area. He currently is the pastor of Holy Name Parish in Houston, which was his childhood parish. He has also taught at the University of St. Thomas School of Theology and the University of St. Thomas at St. Mary’s Seminary.
Archbishop Gomez said, “I met Father Cantú when he was a seminarian and have continued to follow his priestly ministry. While we haven’t worked together before, I am confident he will be a blessing to our archdiocese. His being bi-lingual and bi-cultural will make him a perfect fit.” Besides speaking English and Spanish, Bishop-elect Cantú also speaks French and Italian.
Fr. Cantú will be ordained a bishop by Archbishop José H. Gomez on June 2.
Auxiliary, San Francisco
The Holy Father has appointed William J. Justice, who is a priest of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, as an auxiliary bishop for Archbishop George Niederauer.
In a statement issued this morning, Archbishop Niederauer said, “On behalf of Auxiliary Bishop Ignatius Wang, and the priests, deacons, religious and lay faithful of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, I gratefully thank our Holy Father for this appointment, and I congratulate our new Bishop-elect William Justice and assure him of our prayers
and support for his ministry among us as Auxiliary Bishop of San Francisco.”
Bishop-elect Justice was born on 8 May 1942. He received a Master of Arts in Philosophy and a Master of Divinity at Saint Patrick Seminary.
On May 17, 1968 he was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of San Francisco and then went on to obtain a Masters in Applied Spirituality at the University of San Francisco.
Archbishop Niederauer spoke about the qualities of Bishop-elect Justice saying he brings his “pastoral experience, generous heart and wise judgment for which he is known among the clergy, religious and laity of the Archdiocese.” He also noted that Bishop-elect Justice’s fluency in Spanish, which he learned in Guadalajara, Mexico will be a “particularly fruitful resource for his new apostolic ministry.”
Fr. Justice will be ordained a bishop on Wednesday, May 28, 2008, at 2:00 p.m. in St. Mary’s Cathedral.
Auxiliary, Denver
This morning the Vatican announced that Pope Benedict has appointed Msgr. James D. Conley of Wichita, Kansas as an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Denver. During a press conference in Denver today, Bishop-elect Conley spoke of how much he looks forward to serving in Denver and of his admiration for Archbishop Chaput, calling him a “big hero of mine over the years.”
In his 23 years as a priest, Bishop-elect James D. Conley, 53, has served the Catholic Church in a wide variety of ways—as pastor, college campus chaplain, director of Respect Life ministries, theology instructor and as a Vatican official.
Throughout all of these assignments, the Bishop-elect explains that he has seen his life as a priest as a call to service and complete surrender to “God’s providential hand.”
For his episcopal motto, Bishop-elect Conley, a convert to the Catholic faith, has chosen the same motto as the great 19th century English convert, John Henry Cardinal Newman, “cor ad cor loquitur” which means “heart speaks to heart.”
Speaking about the English churchman, Bishop-elect Conley said, “Cardinal Newman had a huge influence on my own conversion and in my vocation to the priesthood. He continues to be a kind of spiritual mentor to me.”
“For me, this motto teaches us that souls are won over to Christ, heart to heart, person to person, through goodness and friendship. Cardinal Newman once wrote that next to the influence of supernatural grace, the greatest influence over the human soul is the example of goodness and virtue in another person,” he said.
At the end of his remarks at this morning’s press conference, Msgr. Conley asked for the prayers of the Church in Northern Colorado that he might “assist your good archbishop with deep love, fidelity, and courage. And in return, I promise to pray for you and your families as we begin this journey together. God bless you.”
Archbishop Chaput welcomed the new Bishop-elect saying, “I'm grateful and very pleased for this appointment from the Holy See. Bishop-elect Conley has an extraordinary heart for the Church. He proved his skills as a pastor in Kansas. Before that, he served the global Catholic community with distinction in Rome. He has a keen mind and a warm sense of humor. He’s done wonderful work with young adults, and as a convert himself, his energy and enthusiasm for the Catholic faith are infectious. He’s a tremendous gift to the Church here in Colorado.”
The ordination of Msgr. Conley as a bishop will take place on May 30, 2008, which is the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
This came in by email:
"Msgr. Conley, currently of the Diocese of Wichita and formerly in the Congregation for Bishops and graduate of the famous KU humanities program and now appointed to be auxiliary bishop of Denver, is to my knowledge the first bishop appointed recently who had regularly celebrated the TLM as part of his priestly service (not merely an occasional Mass here and there). I believe that he and another priest alternated celebrating the 8 AM Sunday TLM in Wichita, the only such Mass in the Diocese of Wichita. This is huge! Maybe second to Summorum Pontificum. Now we have a bishop who is not only a friend of the Extraordinary Use of the Mass, like Arch. Burke, but one for whom the EU was an important part of his ministry. The EU is part of new bishop(s). It is part of the mainstream of the church. This is great news for fans of Tradition."
Your Holiness, please keep it up!
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