Vatican City, Apr 8, 2013 / 05:59 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Bishop Michael O. Jackels received an early birthday present of sorts when Pope Francis named him April 8 to lead the Archdiocese of Dubuque.

The Vatican press office made the appointment public just after noon Rome time, saying that the Pope also accepted the resignation of current Archbishop Jerome G. Hanus.

The announcement cited canon law 401, section two as the reason Archbishop Hanus is stepping down. This means that he has become “unsuited” for fulfilling his obligations “because of illness or some other grave reason,” according to the regulation.

A press conference is planned for 10:00 a.m. in Dubuque, where further details will be revealed.

Archbishop-designate Jackels was born in Rapid City, South Dakota, and will celebrate his 59th birthday on April 13.

He was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Lincoln on May 30, 1981. During his time as a priest he served as the pastor of the University of Nebraska’s Newman Center in Lincoln, assistant director of the diocese’s vocations office and director of Hispanic ministry.

Between 1997 and 2005 he served as an official at the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

On January 28, 2005 he was appointed Bishop of Wichita, Kansas and was consecrated a bishop on April 4 of the same year.

Archbishop-designate Jackels speaks English, Italian and Spanish. He will be serving around 250,000 Catholics, spread out over 17,403 square miles.

In related news, Pope Francis appointed another Lincoln priest, Monsignor John Folda, as the Bishop of Fargo on April 8.

Bishop Michael O. Jackels

Appointed the 10th Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Wichita on January 28, 2005 by Pope John Paul II, Bishop Jackels (pronounced JAKE-uhls) was ordained at the Church of the Magdalen on Monday, April 4, 2005. Prior to leading the Diocese of Wichita, Bishop Jackels worked for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome for eight years under Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI.

Coat of Arms

The image of St. Michael the Archangel is taken from the crest for the city of Kiev in Ukraine. In addition to being the patron saint of Bishop Jackels, the image represents his mother’s family, the Mettlers, who are Volga Germans. The unicorn is taken from the coat of arms for the Jaeckel family in Nuremberg, Germany, and was chosen to represent his father’s family.

When read from left to right Bishop Jackels’ coat of arms declares “ecce adsum” – here I am, Michael Jackels – announcing his name to the people God has called him to serve.

The motto “ecce adsum” also recalls the right and true answer given by so many to the manifest will of the Father: by Samuel when called to serve as his prophet, “Here I am, for you called me” (1 Samuel 3:5); by the Virgin Mary’s to the call to be the Mother of Jesus, the Son of God, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord: let it be with me according to your word” (Luke 1:38); and by Jesus in Gethsemane, at the beginning of his Passion, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me, yet not my will but yours be done” (Luke 22:42).

The same words – “ecce adsum” – were spoken by God to the people of Israel, promising to come to their help in need: “You shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am” (Isaiah 58:9).

The motto “ecce adsum” is a declaration of Bishop Jackels’ cheerful trust in the promise of God to be present and to provide all needed strength, wisdom and goodness, believing that God will meet misery with mercy. It also gives voice to his ready surrender, born of trust, seeing God’s will as a good thing given by a loving Father to a child he loves, and so, not only accepting it, but co-operating with it, even desiring it, saying “I thirst!”, in imitation of Jesus on the Cross.

Actually, from what I have read, she has not been officially excommunicated. Archbishop Naumann has requested that she refrain from receiving communion; she ignored his request. The latest I’ve seen is that he wrote her again when he heard that she received communion anyway. I’m willing to bet she ignored him again.

So, the question remains: when will the bishops take a stand beyond “requests” as if any of these politicians really want to comply in the first place?

Any idea why Dubuque is an archdiocese? Seems like a very small place for that designation.

The area was one of the first areas settled west of the upper Mississippi. French Fur traders and later agriculture made it a busy port town and could have rivaled Chicago for prominence were it not for the Eire canal which opened up the upper Midwest to water borne trade with the east and further with out the hazards of navigating the then treacherousness Mississippi. Since this was the largest concentration of Catholics west of the Mississippi north of St. Louis it was designated a diocese in the early 1800's and later an Archdiocese. I believe Minneapolis was at onetime a suffragan diocese.

That and it happens to be the home diocese of conseervonator and family :)

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