A Note From Fr. LeRoy

     As you know Bishop-elect Patrick Neary CSC will be ordained and installed as the Tenth Bishop of our Diocese of St. Cloud on Tuesday, February 14th at 1:00 pm. at St. Mary Cathedral.  This Mass and ceremony are by invitation only, however, on the eve of the ordination, Monday February 13th at 5:30 pm. at St. Mary Cathedral there will be a prayer vigil and Solemn Vespers for our new bishop which is open to the public.  There will also be a reception for the bishop in the lower church that same evening so you may have an opportunity to meet and greet the new shepherd of our Diocese.  I, encourage you then to join us for these Solemn Vespers as our Fr. Patrick prepares for his new role.   Not since Bishop Jerome Hanus have we had an actual ordination of a bishop within our diocese.  Both Bishop John Kinney and Bishop Donald Kettler were already bishops in a previous diocese and so they were simply “installed” as a bishop for us.  For this reason, we will not only have Archbishop Bernard Hebda as the presider and ordaining bishop, but I believe we will also have the Papal Nuncio to the United States as witness to the ordination.  There will be other dignitaries as well such as the Bishops of Minnesota and our Midwest Region present, not to mention the proud parents of Bishop-elect Patrick present at the ceremony.

     Each Pastor was given two tickets for each parish they pastor as special invitations to attend as well.  My first choice is the two Trustees of St. Peter and St. Paul, giving them first chance.  I am not sure what decision Fr. Timothy will make.  If you have a great urge to go, you can take that up with him!

    We are thankful that a new shepherd has been appointed for the St. Cloud Diocese, and we are hopeful that he will continue to support the strong Catholic Faith and Tradition we have here in Central Minnesota.  I encourage everyone, even if you are not able to attend the evening vespers to pray for our new bishop, that the Holy Spirit will guide his decisions and leadership with faith, hope, courage, generosity, wisdom and good counsel.  Bishop-elect Neary will have a lot of decisions to make in the near future in regard to the direction of our diocese as he face the challenges of decrease in vocations, parish ACC merging, a declining Catholic population, and ever-growing secular challenges of our society.

     Again, with this said, please keep Bishop-elect Patrick Neary CSC and all bishops, priests, and deacon in your

prayers, that they all be governed and guided and inspired by the Holy Spirit and that we all follow our new bishop faithfully.  May our new bishop find a warm welcome in our diocese and feel the great support of everyone in our ACC Parishes!  Peace and God Bless. 

                                                    Fr. LeRoy Scheierl