A new Archbishop for Denver

Denver has a new Archbishop: His Excellency Most Rev. Samuel Aquila, formerly of Fargo.

We have read about him quite a few times here.

You may remember that during this round of ad limina visits, the Holy Father received well certain propositions that Archbishop Aquila made about the ordering of the Sacraments of Initiation. HERE.

I am confident that you will stop and say a prayer for Archbp. Aquila.

 

 

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44 Comments

  1. heway says:

    I am very excited over this appt. My son lives in Denver. 3 years ago, the diocesan vocation director from Fargo spent Easter with us, while our pastor took a vacation. He had nothing but great things to say about Bishop Aquila and their diocese had more than a few smeinarians. God speed to him and his sheep.

  2. Tominellay says:

    …Benedict XVI hits another home run with this appointment…

  3. irishgirl says:

    A ‘home run’, indeed!
    I had a distinct feeling that Bishop Aquila (now ‘Archbishop-elect’) was not going to stay in the hinterlands of North Dakota, but was destined for ‘greater things’.
    Buffalo, NY, is getting a new Bishop, too. He’s coming from, of all places, Maine! [no offense to any Maine readers here : ) ]
    Congratulations to both!

  4. Gregg the Obscure says:

    On June 23, Bp. Aquila will be ordaining four men for the Diocese of Fargo, including one fine young fellow who was at our Denver parish as a transitional deacon for several months. Four new vocations in NoDak is nothing to sneeze at!

    I note that in Fargo the Vetus Ordo is offered at the Cathedral itself weekly, albeit at the suboptimal hour of 1400 – well, suboptimal for the Sunday obligation, though most optimal for an NFL kickoff.

  5. philothea.distracted says:

    Buffalo has a new Bishop as well. Any other appointments today, or just the two. Being from Buffalo I can’t help but be more interested in Bishop Malone. Anyone know anything about him?

  6. AnAmericanMother says:

    . . . adsument pinnas sicut aquilae . . .

    His Excellency has been on the WDTPRS radar for quite some time.

  7. JeremyB says:

    While Bishop Aquila has not always been personally friendly to the cause of the Extraordinary Form, he has opposed its use and growth in the Diocese of Fargo. In fact, this past Easter, he confected the Sacrament of Confirmation in the Extraordinary Form for the first time in the Fargo diocese in many decades. May God bless him in his work in his new diocese and old stomping grounds.

  8. Cavaliere says:

    Bishop Aquila gave a wonderful Serra retreat a few years back at the beautiful Christ the King retreat house in Buffalo, MN (a shameless plug on behalf of Fr. Al). It was obvious that Bishop Aquila was not one who would remain long in the Diocese of Fargo. Congratulations to him and those blessed to have him in Denver.

  9. lhuizenga says:

    Fargo is far from “the hinterlands”, irishgirl, though I know you meant no offense. With Moorhead across the river in MN and outlying communities (West Fargo, etc) it’s a rather dynamic place. Bismarck (on the other side of the Great State of North Dakota, where I live) is buzzing too, especially with all the oil growth in the state. Both of our dioceses have a good number of men in formation relative to our Catholic population. In any event, +Aquila was a bold leader who will be missed on both sides of the state. I was looking forward to him and the new bishop of Bismarck, David Kagan, tag-teaming for a while, but I’ve every confidence that whomever Fargo receives for a new bishop will be a good appointment.

  10. JonPatrick says:

    Regarding Bishop Malone, we go to Maine frequently and one of my sons lives in Lewiston where there is a flourishing Latin mass community. He seems to have been orthodox on his policies, condemning the HHS mandate and homosexual “marriage”, and supportive or at least tolerant of the EF Mass. I hope his replacement will be equally so.

  11. jhayes says:

    I note that in Fargo the Vetus Ordo is offered at the Cathedral itself weekly, albeit at the suboptimal hour of 1400 – well, suboptimal for the Sunday obligation, though most optimal for an NFL kickoff.

    Dr. Peters has pointed out that a Mass that starts anytime between Saturday Noon and Sunday Midnight satisfies the Sunday obligation.

    For reasons that go beyond what I can present in a blog post, I hold the British-Irish position on this point, but, even if ours turned out to be minority view, it is, I suggest, more than sufficient (per 1983 CIC 14, among others) to defend the conscience of one who attends any Mass in a Catholic rite, beginning any time after 12 noon on Saturday but before midnight between Sunday and Monday, in fulfillment of one’s Sunday obligation.

    http://www.canonlaw.info/2008/11/time-period-for-fulfilling-sunday.html

  12. Dr. K says:

    Congratulations to Denver and to our thruway neighbors in the Diocese of Buffalo!

    The next two bishoprics to watch are San Francisco and Erie.

  13. Nathan says:

    Dr. K: “The next two bishoprics to watch are San Francisco and Erie.”

    May it please God for the Holy Father to send them exceptionally strong and holy bishops. I can’t begin to imagine the enormity of the task of repair in those two dioceses.

    In Christ,

  14. Centristian says:

    I’ve just had the privilege of meeting the soon-to-be XIVth Bishop of Buffalo, Richard Malone, at the Catholic Center, where he was introduced (to two standing ovations) to the diocesan worker bees by outgoing bishop Edward Urban Kmiec.

    Although Bishop Kmiec will be greatly missed, I think many of us breathed a sigh of relief when we heard the Irish had been restored to the throne. Buffalo always had Irish bishops and nothing but Irish bishops until the Polish Bishop Kmiec was appointed, disturbing the logical order of the universe.

    Bishop Malone comes from Portland, Maine, with a relatively small Catholic population, to a predominantly Catholic city in which the bishop, not the Mayor, is considered the first dignitary. All city officials have license plates that read “BF#”. The Mayor’s license plate is “BF2”. The bishop’s is “BF1”.

  15. acardnal says:

    Yeeesssss . . . Erie. Erie, Pennsylvania.

    “confected the Sacrament of Confirmation.” Is this a correct use of the word “confected”? I have never heard or read of it being used with any Sacrament other than the Eucharist.

  16. Joseph-Mary says:

    An interview with Archbishop designate Aquila can be found here:

    http://www.denverpost.com/recommended/ci_20731047

    conducted by the Denver Post

  17. AA Cunningham says:

    Congratulations to his Excellency on his return to Denver.

    I pray that he intends to hit the ground running as there are a number of matters here that need his attention.

    Just a note of trivia, the sculpture depicting the Assumption of the Blessed Mother in Mary’s Garden at the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Denver was a gift from Bishop Aquila’s parents to the Church.

  18. AnAmericanMother says:

    acardnal,

    . . . to the tune of “Gary, Indiana” from The Music Man? It’s got potential.

  19. AnAmericanMother says:

    Erie Pennsylvania, Erie Pennsylvania, Erie Pennsylvania,
    Let me say it one time more:
    Erie Pennsylvania, Erie Pennsylvania, Erie Pennsylvania,
    Where it’s always nineteen-seventy-four.
    If “inclusive language” is your predilection,
    And you hold “just say wait” in great affection,
    And Latin Mass is worthy of rejection,
    There is just one see
    That is right for thee.
    Erie Pennsylvania,
    Erie Pennsylvania,
    Not Kansas City, Fribourg, or Écône, but–
    Erie Pennsylvania,
    Erie Pennsylvania,
    Erie Pennsylvania,
    My home away from Rome . . . .

  20. Luvadoxi says:

    The frustrated English teacher in me is fascinated by this sentence: “I’ve every confidence that whomever Fargo receives for a new bishop will be a good appointment.” I can’t figure it out–should it be whoever or whomever–and why? Inquiring minds have to know!

  21. Cantor says:

    Those who continue to disparage the Bishop of Erie may want to check the list of Catholic Dioceses, schools and agencies who filed suit in Federal courts last month regarding Freedom of Religion. The Diocese of Erie is there. Is yours?

  22. Nathan says:

    Cantor, I’m sorry if my comment came across as casting aspersions on Bishop Trautman himself. And good on him for joining the lawsuit! While Bishop Trautman has been lampooned a bit on WDTPRS for his devotion to “inclusive language” in the Mass translation, I think it’s fair to say that the difficulties facing the Erie Diocese are of much longer creation than his tenure (which began in 1990, I believe). The Erie Diocese has, at least in much of Catholic blogdom, had a long lived reputation for theological and liturgical dissent (even going back as far as the first session of Vatican II, if memory serves from some of the histories of the Council).

    I do not know what challenges Bishop Trautman faced in Erie. I’ve only observed a very “tired” TLM at a parish in the city of Erie and the LCWR affiliations and interesting doctrinal/liturgical directions associated with the order of sisters associated with Mercyhurst University (which, BTW, does some really outstanding work with college-age students on the autistic spectrum).

    I have seen good, holy pastors and bishops come into difficult situations and not succeed. I imagine that to be a strong, holy bishop, it takes a combination of what the man brings himself (leadership, ability to become a father to his priests, political and financial astuteness, understanding of what laypeople and families are facing, wisdom in dealing with the political situation facing a diocese or even the Church nation and world-wide) and a true superabundance of grace that the bishop humbly accepts.

    And I pray for that for the next Bishop of Erie.

    In Christ,

  23. AnAmericanMother says:

    Our Archbishop has been supporting the suit, not simply verbally but with a letter that was read in all parishes on Sunday. This is purely secondhand shop talk, but I understand the law firm that’s managing the suits in this circuit is picking the fastest dockets, which the local district/division is definitely NOT. I think the idea is to get through the circuit to the USSC as quickly as possible.
    Not saying that our Archdiocese is perfect by any means (just one FSSP parish?) but at least the folks in charge here didn’t try their best to torpedo the Improved Translation on the grounds that all we pew-sitters are too stupid to understand “ineffable”.

  24. St. Rafael says:

    I am sad that Bishop Conley was not appointed Archbishop of Denver. He was already the assistant bishop there and serving as an acting administrator in the absense of an official appointment. Conley was orthodox beloved by the priests and community.

    Bishop Aquila should have been sent to a bigger see and archdiocese somewhere else in the country. He should have replaced a Modernist bishop in one of the bigger dioceses that are in ruin.

    Conservatives are being sent to conservative dioceses and Modernist dioceses remain Modernist because another Modernist is the successor. I’m not seeing enough effort at really transforming the American episcopate. The bishops are being shuffled around to different dioceses and there are very few orthodox priests actually promoted to bishops in their own diocese.

  25. wmeyer says:

    AnAmericanMother: It’s not that there is just one FSSP parish, but that there is just one TLM parish, to the best of my knowledge. We can find English, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, and French, I think, but only one parish for Latin, and that’s the FSSP. And out here in the wilds of Forsyth, Haugen and Haas reign supreme. Thankfully, though, the nearest parish does a good job following the Missal. Not so, the parish in which I am registered.

  26. discipulus says:

    “The next two bishoprics to watch are San Francisco and Erie.”

    I personally think Bishop Robert Finn of Kansas City-St. Joseph would be a good choice for the San Francisco Archdiocese, although His Excellency would also be a good choice for Rochester, NY. Whoever is appointed, I pray that they receive theologically solid successors.

    May God bless Archbishop-designate Samuel Aquila and Bishop Richard Malone in their new appointments.

  27. acardnal says:

    AnAmericanMother said, ” . . . at least the folks in charge here didn’t try their best to torpedo the Improved Translation on the grounds that all we pew-sitters are too stupid to understand “ineffable”.

    Yes, I recall Bp.Trautman making that intervention at the USCCB meeting regarding the word “ineffable”. He also objected to eliminating “Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again” if I am not mistaken. To paraphrase him, Americans have gotten used to it and, therefore, it should remain in the revised missal. That phrase was never in the Latin Missal to begin with, which is probably why we don’t see it now in the new properly translated missal.

  28. Gregg the Obscure says:

    Bp. Conley is a holy man and an inspiring preacher. Folks I know at the chancery – folks whom I respect and who have no axe to grind – found Bp. Conley to have significant opportunity for improvement in business and administrative manners. Since Abp. Chaput took some senior staff to Philly, it is important that the Archdiocese of Denver have a leader who has the necessary administrative skills. I earnestly hope that Bp. Conley can take advantage of that educational opportunity. His predecessor as auxiliary here, now Abp. Jose H. Gomez of Los Angeles, certainly has gone on to a remarkable challenge, and so may Bp. Conley when the time is ripe.

  29. Charivari Rob says:

    philothea.distracted: “Being from Buffalo I can’t help but be more interested in Bishop Malone. Anyone know anything about him?”

    I met him once or twice, just before he moved from Boston (Auxiliary) to Portland.

    I have a favorable impression from those times – Masses, hearing him preach. Occasional mentions in the paper here. Can’t really recall anything meaty or specific like his approach to any of the issues of the day.

    They have a decent capsule bio on the Portland website, which I believe Buffalo linked to early on, until they got more of their own reports posted. Ah, yes – includes some of his homilies: http://www.portlanddiocese.net/info.php?info_id=14

  30. AnAmericanMother says:

    wmeyer,
    Our territorial parish was pretty wild and wooly at the time we converted (I understand it’s calmed down substantially with a new priest), we didn’t even know WHAT a territorial parish was at the time, and nobody mentioned anything about territories when we registered at our parish. We are on the very edge of the “territory” in which we reside, although we are .8 mile closer to our territorial parish it is actually faster to drive to where we’re registered.
    It seems like nobody around here cares a bit. You have to really look and dig and ask to find out the parish boundaries — guess they should bring back Rogation Days and Beating the Bounds..
    You’re always welcome at our parish, of course (we sing at 10 a.m.) but if you’re coming all this way then St. Francis de Sales is only 10 miles further on and it’s All Latin, All the Time. (Their music is good – polyphonic Mass settings and solid motets – but I don’t think it’s as good as ours.)

  31. wmeyer says:

    AnAmericanMother: Well, now I’ve learned a new term, as well. I had not heard of a territorial parish. But I see that I must have missed that discussion on this blog, and it happened within the time I have been a regular reader here.

    One of the challenges is that my wife doesn’t want the great distance, and being new to the faith, doesn’t feel any particular urge for the TLM. That said, if all goes well in the near future with the SSPX, their chapel in Roswell is only slightly further from us than the parish in which we are registered.

    For now, however, I will stay with the parish closest to us, as they do adhere solidly to the new Missal. Their music is annoying, but less so than the parish in which we are registered.

    I pray for a positive result, and soon, with the SSPX.

  32. AnAmericanMother says:

    I know exactly what you mean! My husband converted from Methodist to Episcopalian and then to the Church . . . He is not exactly keen on the EF – he says it’s awfully long, but I think the real problem is that he can neither sit nor kneel comfortably in St Francis. He is a really big guy (6’6″ and 250#) and it’s a converted Baptist church so the pews are too close together especially once you add kneelers into the space. Scrunching sideways for 2 hours is discouraging.

  33. Jael says:

    St. Rafael: Could you give some recent examples to illustrate your statement: “Conservatives are being sent to conservative dioceses and Modernist dioceses remain Modernist because another Modernist is the successor.” Thanks. I’m worried about who we’ll get here in this modernist diocese, because the archbishop is over retirement age. I was told we’ll probably get someone solid, because the Pope has been making good choices. Are you sure about what you said?

  34. St. Rafael says:

    @Jael

    Denver, St Louis, Philadelphia are conservative dioceses that got conservative bishops in recent years. Then there are dioceses and regions in complete ruin. Take California for example. In the diocese of Fresno, their new bishop is one of Mahoney’s boys and the Modernist bishop who persecuted Fr. Rodriguez in El Paso. In San Diego, their new coadjutor bishop is Flores, a product of that notorious seminary in Camarillo.

    Since your location is an archdiocese, you might get a better appointment. Who knows. Pope Benedict does not really choose the bishops. He just signs off on them. It is rare that he personally gets involved in selections. Bishops are in reality chosen a voting committe in the Congregation for Bishops. When it comes to the U.S and especially the West Coast, Levada plays the key role in choosing them. The hope is now that Cardinal Ouellet is prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, things will improve.

  35. HeatherPA says:

    Yes-
    Please pray for a strong orthodox Bishop for Erie. We have a wonderful, holy priest. We pray daily for the new Bishop, whoever he is.

  36. Diocese of Buffalo: prepare for a future of no vocations and no more TLM beginning as soon as you receive your new bishop. Malone has been very vocal about fighting the HHS mandate and gay marriage equality, but he, along with most of the New England bishops don’t care for the Latin Mass and will fight to the death to keep FSSP out of their dioceses. Yes, there are 2 Latin Masses in Maine- a state the size of Kentucky (which has 4 or 5 dioceses within its boundaries?). Both are in the southern half of the state, both at the most awful times 8am and noon. Most folks drive a considerable distance to attend these Masses and must either get up before dark to attend one or take up the entire day to attend the other. The diocese has lost so many priests that 1-2 priests cover many parishes and must travel vast distances each weekend to cover all the towns and cities that have a Catholic church. There are literally no vocations. I’m hoping for a miracle out of our diocese getting a new bishop- one who is on fire for God and orthodox. There are many souls in Maine who could be brought into/back to the Church if only we had good leadership and teaching from Portland.

  37. robtbrown says:

    discipulus says:

    I personally think Bishop Robert Finn of Kansas City-St. Joseph would be a good choice for the San Francisco Archdiocese, although His Excellency would also be a good choice for Rochester.

    I would be surprised if he went to either place. He would be wasted in SF because it is a total mess. And he is from the Midwest, so I doubt he’d go to NY–perhaps an archdiocese like Indianapolis

  38. robtbrown says:

    St. Rafael says:

    I am sad that Bishop Conley was not appointed Archbishop of Denver. He was already the assistant bishop there and serving as an acting administrator in the absense of an official appointment. Conley was orthodox beloved by the priests and community.

    That was never a possibility. Perhaps he’ll go to Lincoln or Tulsa–or stay in Denver.

  39. JonPatrick says:

    @katherine collins, I didn’t realize Bp. Malone was opposed to the EF, they did form the Latin Mass chaplaincy there and with just one priest who has to travel between Portland and Lewiston that does limit the number of places that he can serve, as well as dictate non-ideal times.

    Maine may be the size of Kentucky but is unique in New England in the amount of rural sparsely populated areas particularly in the north and east that presents a challenge to the diocese. For example we often go to Lubec in the extreme east of the state where one priest covers 4 churches in a parish area the size of some dioceses, one of which has a Saturday afternoon Mass on Campobello Island (which is actually in Canada but only has land access to the US) so he is stretched very thin. Not much opportunity do go beyond providing the basic sacraments, even confession is a challenge when the priest shows up 15 minutes before mass is scheduled to begin. Yes they definitely need to so something about vocations, maybe a new bishop can put more emphasis on that.

  40. irishgirl says:

    lhuizenga-
    I’m glad that you didn’t take offense at my calling Fargo, ND ‘the hinterlands’.
    I visited the state only once, in 1978, when I went to a traditional Catholic shrine in Powers Lake (ever hear of Father Frederic Nelson and his ‘Marian Hour Radio Rosary’? He founded the shrine in 1954, the first Marian Year, and the year that I was born, BTW). When I was picked up in Stanley to be taken to Powers Lake, I saw how ‘desolate-looking’ the landscape was; being so used to the ‘trees and bushes’ in Upstate NY, it was a real shock! I thought it was the back side of the moon!
    That was my first [and only] impression of North Dakota!

  41. Giuseppe says:

    Dear Luvadoxi –
    Great question — could be ‘whoever’ as the subject of ‘whoever will be a good appointment’. Could be ‘whomever’ as the object of ‘Fargo receives whomever for a new bishop’. Usually relative pronouns take their case from the clause they are in. I’m not sure which clause this is in.
    Put Erie, Buffalo, and San Francisco on hold — we need all of your minds to help us with this whoever/whomever question, ASAP!!!
    Giuseppe

    Luvadoxi says:
    29 May 2012 at 1:55 pm
    The frustrated English teacher in me is fascinated by this sentence: “I’ve every confidence that whomever Fargo receives for a new bishop will be a good appointment.” I can’t figure it out–should it be whoever or whomever–and why? Inquiring minds have to know!

  42. Jon Patrick- Maine has been in a liberal morass for a great deal longer than this bishop has been in charge, so it is unfair to place the blame at his feet alone. Father P. cannot be stretched any thinner to provide a TLM elsewhere in the state and the existing priests are stretched so thin trying to say Mass at all the non-staffed parishes (the two priests in Bangor cover 6 parishes) that you can practically see through them so they cannot be asked to take on an additional Mass. The question is which came first? Are there no vocations because the church here is so liberal or is there little knowledge of what being an authentic Catholic is because there are so few priests? My guess is the former and an influx of orthodoxy would clear out a houseful of cobwebs and bring forth vocations. If any high ups in the Vatican would like to know, Msr. Caron at the Basilica would make a most excellent bishop (the most orthodox priest in the state).

    The other positive thing about Bishop Malone apart from his strong stand on “social issues” is that he is in favor of giving confirmation at the same time as FHC.

  43. FranzJosf says:

    Luvadoxi and Giuseppe:

    This sentence contains three clauses: 1) an independent clause; 2) an adjectival subordinate clause; and 3) a nominative (noun) clause acting as the subject of the adjectival clause. A clause within a clause.

    1. I = subject, have = action verb, confidence = direct object.

    2. Adjectival clause describing what kind of confidence.
    “that _______ will be a good appointment. The blank is the subject of the clause; were the blank to be filled with one word, it would be “whoever”; however,

    3. Whomever is the direct object of the nominative clause “Fargo receives ________”

    A good rule of thumb with who/whom: a) if the word following is a verb, use who because it functions as the subject; b) if the word following is a noun or pronoun (perhaps with an intervening adjective), use whom because it functions as the direct object. There probably are exceptions to that rule, but I can’t think of any at the moment.

  44. inara says:

    We just got a new Bishop in Rockford (northern IL) 2 weeks ago! (We actually don’t live there anymore, but our house still hasn’t sold since we moved 3 years ago :o/ …so we’re still connected to our parish there.) He is David J. Malloy from the Diocese of Mwahkee (one of the few words I still say that give away my yooper upbringing).

    He was ordained by Archbp. Weakland, but apparently escaped to Rome, where he continued his education & then served as a Vatican diplomat for many years. So far he has come out with strong words against the HHS mandate, and had some good things to say about the need “to know our faith & what we are teaching.” So we are pleased thus far & hope that he will be bold in correcting a lot of the liturgical wonkiness we experienced in our 9 years there.

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