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April 24, 2007
It's Tuesday..
...so it's a day we get a U.S. episcopal appointment:
John Clayton Niestedt, bishop of New Ulm, is the new coadjutor of St. Paul-Minneapolis.
(Archbishop Flynn will turn 75 in May of 2008)
His page at the New Ulm website
Posted by Amy Welborn | Permalink
Comments
The Church of St. Paul-Minneapolis is very blessed to receive such a fine bishop. Bishop Nienstedt was the "founding" rector of Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, when Cardinal Szoka charged him with the responsibility for taking over the college seminary and adding a graduate program for theology. Bishop Nienstedt has a doctorate in moral theology, and I recall that his thesis was on in vitro fertilization.
No doubt there are more than a few Detroiters who are pleased with this appointment, but for diverse reasons. Bp. Nienstedt's orthodox friends are pleased to see his administrative skills put to use in a significant see; others, less concerned about orthodoxy or orthopraxis, are pleased because it takes him out of the running to succeed Cardinal Maida in Detroit. Someone else will be charged with that task, a mission right up there with cleaning the Augean stables.
Posted by: Fr. Brian Stanley at Apr 24, 2007 7:39:13 AM
Detroit? How do you pronounce Aquila? He was the early favorite in St Paul-Minneapolis. But Rome might be saving him for that "Augean task."
Not that ours is a bed of roses with a few of the most dissident parishes in the U.S.
Fortunately with about one-quarter of our parishes having adoration, mostly perpetual, and an extremely strong seminary system that was turned around after a period of apostasy, there are a lot of things going right here, too.
Posted by: Ray from MN at Apr 24, 2007 8:40:11 AM
One other reason for thinking this a good sign: at New Ulm he succeeded the late Bishop Raymond Lucker (one of the most obnoxious of the Jadot/Laghi era radicals) and proceeded to make himself unpopular with exactly the right people. (I seem to remember a National Catholic Reporter piece wailing about how all of Lucker's wonderful work was being undone by this narrow, rigid reactionary.) Keep it up, your excellency.
Posted by: Hunk Hondo at Apr 24, 2007 8:45:45 AM
Too bad in a way, though. From the vantage of a neighboring diocese, it looks like New Ulm has made some significant imporovements in the recent past. Much more needs to be done, so hopefully another talented Bishop will be appointed.
Posted by: Mark at Apr 24, 2007 8:58:00 AM
Detroit?
Pencil in the name of Bp. Wenski from Orlando........just a "guess".
Posted by: Desert Chatter at Apr 24, 2007 9:20:13 AM
I'm just hoping that my bishop, Bishop Blair of Toledo, doesn't get tapped for Detroit.
Posted by: Jay Anderson at Apr 24, 2007 9:31:23 AM
Nooo!!!
Okay. This is great news for Minneapolis, but very sad for the New Ulm diocese. Bishop Nienstedt has done a good job of incrementally beginning the turnaround this diocese, which had been beginning to look like a wasteland of the faith.
So does this mean that New Ulm will be without a Bishop for awhile? In my opinion, we really need all the help we can get, and can't afford any "unsupervised" time, lest all the old guard get emboldened again....
Posted by: A Guy who just moved to New Ulm at Apr 24, 2007 11:27:53 AM
Hmm. Bp. Wenski would make a lot of sense for Detroit. It continues the run of Polish ABs, and his conciliatory approach to Islam would be seen as useful given metro Detroit's Muslim population.
Posted by: Dale Price at Apr 24, 2007 11:35:48 AM
...but does Wenski like coney dogs? an important taste for a future Archbishop of Detroit. That and a penchant for good hockey and lousy football.
Posted by: Tim Ferguson at Apr 24, 2007 11:54:39 AM
The College of St. Catherine offers its official welcome. Wonder how much bitter is in the "bittersweet moment"...
Posted by: Clayton at Apr 24, 2007 1:14:14 PM
Bishop Nienstedt is a class act -- and is very serious about the teaching part of episcopal ministry. He is very clear, and does not suffer fools gladly. I am not surprised to learn that he was straightening things out in New Ulm, and if there are things to be straightened out in Minneapolis-St. Paul, they have a good man for the job.
In light of the situation in Detroit, especially the large debt that is owed on the JPII Center/Museum in DC, someone is going to be needed who can not only raise money [over $30 million] for that defunct institution, but to "herd cats," i.e., address the "diversity of praxis" among the clergy and lay ministers in Detroit. Bp. Nienstedt knows where many of the pitfalls are, as do the other former Detroit auxiliaries who are now out in the vineyard beyond SE Michigan. Bp. Nienstedt had, among those auxiliaries, the clearest reputation as a "no nonsense" administrator and teacher. These include and are not limited to the bishops of Gary, Indiana; Oakland, California; Toledo, Ohio; Winona, Minnesota; Seattle, Washington [technically, Abp. Brunet was not an auxiliary of Detroit, but a former pastor from that archdiocese]; and Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Pray for Cardinal Maida's successor: he will need more than the "ordinary" measure of grace to minister in our metropolitan see. I'd rather have permanent root canal than be the next archbishop of Detroit, as I cannot imagine a more difficult assignment in the US.
Posted by: Fr. Brian Stanley at Apr 24, 2007 1:52:54 PM
I'd rather have permanent root canal than be the next archbishop of Detroit, as I cannot imagine a more difficult assignment in the US.
Please enlighten us more about the situation in Detroit. Are you speaking of inadequate teaching and liturgical problems? Financial issues? Other?
I had always thought of Cardinal Maida as "center-right" and would never have considered it to be among the country's most problem-plagued dioceses.
Posted by: GregY at Apr 24, 2007 5:12:28 PM
A question: is appointing a coadjutator bishop a common practice?
i hadn't made a practice of following episcopal appointments until fairly recently, when i started reading blogs. i don't remember the appointment of a coadjutator bishop as a common occurence in those few, high-profile appointments that got media attention to the point where i knew about them.
The last two archbishops of the archdiocese in which i live (Milwaukee) were appointed after their predecessors' resignations.
Posted by: chris at Apr 24, 2007 10:03:50 PM
The "mortgage" on the JPII Center in DC is a huge albatross, and the full financial disclosure has yet to be made. Financial commitments were made by the cardinal without proper consultation -- especially in an archdiocese the size of Detroit -- and in light of the parish reorganization and closings, such financial deals do not reflect well on decision making. It not only appears unseemly, it appears out of touch. By "proper" consultation, I don't mean that the cardinal did anything illegal, either by civil law or canon law. I mean that it is proper that such arrangements would be made with a more public consultation of other priests in the presbyteral senate or among the consultors. It is my understanding that this did not happen in fullest disclosure. The Church needs transparency in these matters, and this has not been transparent. IMO, the cardinal could have avoided much of the current financial trouble by being transparent.
Another financial difficulty: many questions have been raised about the significant financial development of St. John's Retreat Center in Plymouth, where a luxury hotel has been built on archdiocesan property. The retreat center, a former provincial seminary, has had millions of dollars poured into it, and it is an expenditure that many in the archdiocese consider an extravagance. The cardinal's retirement residence has been prepared there as well. The questions about the funding of the luxury hotel and golf course have not been answered, and in a time when there is a call for increased accountability in the hierarchy, there are some serious questions that have been asked about these deals, and no answers have been forthcoming.
Now, to be fair, there are some ecclesiastical types who will assert prerogatives, and will call for patience in getting those questions answered. But it comes off as patronizing at a time when so many other prelates [Boston, NY] have been very open and forthcoming about finances.
You are accurate in identifying Cardinal Maida as "center-right," IMO, fwiw. But there remain lots of dissidents, as is typical in an archdiocese the size of Detroit, and so there remains lots of "diversity" and other politically correct initiatives and programs. The chancery at Washington Boulevard is long overdue for a thorough cleaning. A former auxiliary would know where the bodies are buried. OTOH, a former auxiliary might be reluctant to "go there." We'll have to wait and see who the Holy Father decides to send to the Motor City. The next archbishop will have two cardinals looking over his shoulder: Szoka and Maida. And you will not ever convince me that those two will be disinterested in any reforms to be made in Detroit.
Posted by: Fr. Brian Stanley at Apr 25, 2007 7:06:55 AM
