Father Chuck Thompson named Bishop of Evansville

Easter Greetings!  

It is with great joy that I announce to you that another one of our own, Father Charles C. Thompson, has been called to shepherd the Diocese of Evansville.  The official announcement was made in Rome this morning.

 

A reception will be held for the Bishop-elect of Evansville, at the Chancery, on Wednesday, April 27^thfrom 2:30 – 4:00 p.m.  If you are unable to stop by during this brief period, I’m sure that you will find your own personal way to greet and congratulate Bishop-elect Thompson.

 

I encourage you to mark your calendars for two other important dates.  On Tuesday, June 21, 2011, a Mass of Thanksgiving and Farewell will be celebrated at the Cathedral of the Assumption at 5:00 p.m., followed by a small reception in the Cathedral Undercroft.  A more formal invitation will be sent at a later date.

 

The second date is Wednesday, June 29, 2011 on which Bishop-elect Thompson will be consecrated and installed as the 5^th Bishop of Evansville.  More information about the ceremony and formal invitations will be forthcoming.

 

Please join me in prayer for Bishop-elect Thompson, the people of the Diocese of Evansville and the parish communities of Holy Trinity and the Cathedral as all prepare for this transition. 

 

Be assured of my prayers and gratitude.

 

Sincerely yours in our Lord,

 

 Most Reverend Joseph E. Kurtz, D.D.

 Archbishop of Louisville

41 year old Texas priest named youngest American bishop

From The Catholic News Agency

Pope Benedict appointed Texas priest Jose Auturo Cepeda as an auxiliary bishop of Detroit. At the age of 41, he will become the youngest bishop in the U.S.

Bishop-elect Cepeda currently serves as the rector of Assumption Seminary in San Antonio and is the third in a recent round of newly appointed auxiliary bishops for the Archdiocese of Detroit.

Upon news of his appointment on April 18, the bishop-elect – who has never visited the city outside of its airport – expressed excitement over his upcoming move.

“I will learn much from the Church of Detroit,” he said on Monday. “God is the One who does all the work and gives us all the grace we need. All we need to do is say 'yes,' just like Mary. That's my attitude.”

Bishop-elect Cepeda will join Bishop-elects Monsignor Donald Hanchon and Michael Byrnes in being ordained bishops on May 5 at the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament.

Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron welcomed the appointment and said that the new bishop-elect “comes to us with an apostolic mission to use all of his many gifts and talents for the service of the whole People of God in Southeast Michigan – with particular attention to that portion of our family which is Hispanic.”

“He is a true son of Our Lady of Guadalupe,” Archbishop Vigneron added. “I know she will help him to share his gifts with us, so that all of us – from so many diverse cultures – will share our gifts of grace with one another.”

Archbishop Jose Gomez, the former head of the San Antonio archdiocese who is now leading the Church in Los Angeles, told CNA, "The appointment of Fr. Cepeda gives me great joy."

He described the bishop-elect as "a close and valuable collaborator" in San Antonio in his roles as the Director of Vocations and rector of the seminary.

The Archdiocese of Detroit is receiving "a good priest and a shepherd full of zeal and energy," Archbishop Gomez added. "I am sure he will be missed in San Antonio, but as a bishop he will serve a larger flock."

"Fr. Cepeda can count on my fervent prayers for his new pastoral duties."

Born in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, Bishop-elect Cepeda came to the U.S. with his family at the age of 19, having already started his discernment for joining the priesthood. He was ordained a priest in 1996 at his home parish of St. Mary Magdalen in San Antonio.

After serving as associate pastor of San Antonio's San Fernando Cathedral for four years, he then attended St. Thomas Aquinas Pontifical University in Rome, where he earned a licentiate and a doctorate in sacred theology.

Since returning to San Antonio, he has taught at Assumption Seminary and was made rector in 2010. He has also served as vocations director for the archdiocese and his ministry also included hosting a bi-lingual talk show on Catholic Television of San Antonio.

Bishop's prayers answered... Steelers-Packers vie in the Super Bowl

from catholicvote.org

Talk about a potentially sticky predicament. Most Reverend David Zubik, bishop of Pittsburgh, is the former bishop of Green Bay, Wisconsin. (If you hadn’t heard or just don’t care, there’s a minor clash happening between the two blue-collar cities’ beloved football teams later on today.)

While the majority of the country wants the favored Packers to win, Bishop Zubik, who incidentally was also born and raised in Pittsburgh, made it clear he has no divided loyalties in today’s Steelers-Packers Super Bowl. WTAE-TV in Pittsburgh got him on camera supporting the black and gold, not the green and gold.

Sorry, Packers fans.

The news anchor ends the segment by noting that Bishop Zubik “has been praying for a Steelers-Packers Super Bowl for quite a while.”

See? Prayer does work on sports.

Our Bishops Have Been Busy

from Lisa Hendley, Faith & Family...


If you’ve spent any time online in Catholic circles today, it’s likely that you heard the big, historic news about the election of Archbishop Timothy Dolan to the post of President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. NC Register superhero Tim Drake has the story here, but if you really want the moment by moment scoop be sure to follow Tim on Twitter.


Archbishop Dolan’s election to this post was rather unexpected, since he won a tight election against the sitting Vice President Tucson Bishop Gerald Kicanas. At moments like this in our Church, we do well to turn to Catholic news outlets for thoughtful information on events. As a longtime listener to Archbishop Dolan’s program on The Catholic Channel, I’m excited for his leadership and am praying for him as he prepares to take on this additional level of responsibility.


In other news at this same meeting, yesterday Bishop Ronald Herzog spoke to the Bishops on the ever increasing role of social media in today’s church. Since I just returned from a trip to Washington DC where I was speaking on this very topic, I wanted to shout “Amen” when I read Bishop Herzog’s remarks. I’m not suggesting that our Bishops begin tweeting, updating Facebook, and texting non-stop. But I do echo Bishop’s Herzog’s sentiments that their staffs need to be given the tools and resources to effectively communicate their messages to their dioceses. A great example of this in action is the Archdiocese of St. Louis, where Archbishop Carlson has talented—and very faith filled—staff helping to fine tune a great social media presence. 

As a mom, I feel that one of the greatest reasons our Church and our Bishops need an ever growing awareness of these communications tools is so that they can help support parents whose children are growing up in today’s digital climate. Just in the same way I need my Church’s support in forming my sons to make good choices in other areas of their lives, I need guidance in knowing how to help them navigate an ever more complex digital world. I’m confident that with leaders like Archbishop Dolan and Bishop Herzog, we are taking a step in the right direction. Please join me in praying for these men and for our Church here in the United States.

Archbishop Dolan and Archbishop Kurtz elected to lead USCCB

Archbisop Timothy M. Dolan of New York and Archbishop
Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Kentucky

from the Pilot...


In a series of close votes, the U.S. bishops elected Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan of New York to head the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops for the next three years and chose Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Kentucky, as vice president.

By selecting Archbishop Dolan from a field of 10 candidates that included Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas of Tucson, AZ, USCCB vice president, the bishops diverged from the usual practice of electing the USCCB vice president as president. 

Because a USCCB vice president cannot serve for two consecutive terms under conference rules, Bishop Kicanas was not eligible to run for vice president.

Archbishop Dolan will succeed Cardinal Francis E. George of Chicago as USCCB president at the close of the bishops' fall general assembly Nov. 15-18 in Baltimore

The change in the USCCB leadership took just a matter of minutes, thanks to electronic voting. In the first ballot for the presidential election, Bishop Kicanas had a clear lead over Archbishop Dolan, 104 to 84. On the second ballot, Archbishop Dolan pulled ahead of Bishop Kicanas, 118-111. Even so, neither prelate had acquired the majority needed for election.

In a runoff after the other eight candidates for the presidency had been eliminated, Archbishop Dolan won 128 to 111.

For the vice presidency, Archbishop Kurtz, the current USCCB treasurer, had a slim lead but not a majority on the first ballot. On the second ballot, he widened his lead -- but again, not by enough to claim a majority. On the third ballot against Denver Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, Archbishop Kurtz won with 141 votes to 97.

Bishop Michael J. Bransfield of Wheeling-Charleston, WV, was elected treasurer. While he was not supposed to start until next year, he'll start right away instead with the election of Archbishop Kurtz to the vice presidency.

The election of Archbishop Dolan marks the first time since the bishops' conference was reorganized in 1966 following the Second Vatican Council reforms that a sitting vice president who sought the presidency did not win the election. In two elections, circumstances dictated that the vice president did not rise to lead the conference.

In 1974, Coadjutor Archbishop Leo C. Byrne of St. Paul and Minneapolis, vice president since 1971, died less than a month before his term ended.

Three years later, Cardinal John J. Carberry of St. Louis as vice president declined to run for the top spot because he was 73 years old and was due to retire before he could complete a three-year term as president.

This year's voting nearly had to be conducted the old-fashioned way -- by a paper ballot. A glitch in the electronic voting system had kept the results from a test vote from appearing on an overhead projector screen in the front of the meeting room.

New Archbishop of Seattle is a graduate of Saint Meinrad and the U.S.'s youngest archbishop

from Catholic Register...

Archbishop-elect J. Peter Sartain is set to become the youngest archbishop in the United States. The 58-year-old bishop of Joliet, Ill., will be installed as archbishop of Seattle on Dec. 1, succeeding Archbishop Alex Brunett.

The youngest of five children, James Peter Sartain was born to Catherine and Pete Sartain in 1952. Their Memphis, Tenn., home was dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and was the site for the family’s regular recitation of the Rosary. Interaction with priests and religious sisters was a normal part of his youth, which enabled the young Sartain to be open to his priestly calling. His response to that call was gradual and was solidified in college.

Archbishop-elect Sartain has degrees from St. Meinrad College in Indiana and the Pontifical University of St. Thomas and the Pontifical Athenaeum San Anselmo, both in Rome. He was ordained for the Diocese of Memphis in 1978 and made a bishop in 2000. He was bishop of Little Rock, Ark., from 2000 to 2006, when he was appointed to Joliet.

Archbishop-elect Sartain spoke with Register correspondent Trent Beattie in early October.

Continue to read interview with Archbishop-elect Sartain...