William Patrick Callahan
Posted on 08/10/2010 1:11:45 PM PDT by NYer
.- William Patrick Callahan on Wednesday will be installed as the new Bishop of La Crosse in Wisconsin. The incoming bishop will celebrate one of his first Masses in the diocese at a church where the parish priest stepped down after charges of possession of child pornography.
The 60-year-old Bishop Callahan, an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, will succeed Jerome Listecki, who is now Archbishop of Milwaukee. He will be installed on Wednesday afternoon at St. Joseph the Workman Cathedral.
The incoming bishop told the La Crosse Tribune that he will learn about the diocese, over 15,000 square miles in area, and meet its people and priests.
"I've stepped in more than one cow pie in my life, so I have no fear in any of that," he commented. "People are people, whether they live in cities or on farms. And I love the people. I think the most important thing to do is to make contact with the people."
He said everyone has told him that the diocese is “wonderful.”
"My coming is a little bit different, because I'm not coming in with degrees after my name. I am basically a parish priest. I want to come in with a pastor's heart,” he told the La Crosse Tribune. "We have a common faith, so let's try to work from there."
On Sunday he will celebrate Mass at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Onalaska, where parish priest Fr. Patrick Umberger recently stepped down after being charged with possession of child pornography.
"I want to be with those people. That's the high priority," Bishop Callahan commented. "I want to pray with them. I want to listen."
He told the La Crosse Tribune that the turmoil at St. Patrick’s was “a sad way to start” but he wants parishioners to know “I’m their guy.”
"The most important thing is our faith in Jesus Christ and that we come together. In praying with them, I'll have the opportunity to listen. I'm sure they'll want to talk."
The bishop said his new assignment makes him “a little nervous, a little excited, happy, enthused, ready to come and do my job.”
Installation of the Most Reverend William Patrick Callahan as the Tenth Bishop of La Crosse. Wed. August 11 at 3PM, Encore - Thurs. August 12 at 12PM ...
Thanks for the ping!
I talked to someone in the LaCrosse Diocese a few nights ago. He met the new bishop recently. He said he is a stand up guy. Good news.
My children go to St Pat’s school in the LaCrosse diocese where a disgraced priest was recently arrested for possesion of child porn. The new Bishop has his hands full as the diocese knew of a police complaint against the priest for suspicous activity at a waterpark a year prior to his arrest and did nothing about it.
I am withholding judgement on Bishop Callahan until I see how he handles this situation. Simply coming to say a mass will not rectify this situation - there are parents and parishoners who want real answers as to why this was handled so wrongly. The church cannot allow anyone suspected of inappropriate behaviour with children to teach or mentor them. I pray the Bishop Callahan has the courage needed to handle this and to do the right thing.
You have my empathy. There is a lot of clean up to be done by incoming bishops. I happen to be in a RC diocese run by an ultr progressive bishop with 3 years left to retire. Many Catholics are counting down the days until his departure. The one thing we all must do, however, is have patience. A new bishop cannot step into a diocese, sweep his arm around and wave the problems away. It will take time, and lots of it, for any new bishop to address these issues. In the meantime, you should pray for your new bishop. He needs those prayers!
You wrote:
“My children go to St Pat’s school in the LaCrosse diocese where a disgraced priest was recently arrested for possesion of child porn.”
Yeah, I read about that and then talked to one of the parishoners who knew the priest well. Apparently keeping the priest on board was Msgr. Gillis’ call (maybe Listecki was still bishop, however). The diocesan lawyer, Jim Birnbaum, should have known better too.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.