Basilica of St. Peter, Vatican | Source: Wikipedia

It has been quite a couple of months, some of the busiest the blog has ever seen. In all, we have seen ten holy men appointed Archbishops or Bishops to various dioceses throughout the United States since April. Three liturgies of either welcome or installation have already been celebrated; these include, the welcome ceremony for Coadjutor Archbishop Jose Gomez in Los Angeles, the installation of Archbishop Thomas Wenski in Miami, and the installation of Bishop Thomas Paprocki in Springfield, IL. In the upcoming months, we will see the remaining seven ordained and/or installed in various celebrations:

• Bishop-elect Timothy Doherty will be ordained to the episcopacy and installed as the sixth Bishop of the Diocese of Lafayette in Indiana on July 15, 2010.
• Bishop-elect David O’Connell will be ordained to episcopacy and welcomed as the Coadjutor Bishop of the Diocese of Trenton on July 30, 2010 in the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption.
• Bishop-elect John J. McIntyre will be ordained to the episcopacy and take over the office of Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia on August 6, 2010 at the Cathedral Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul.
• Bishop-elect Michael Fitzgerald will be ordained to the episcopacy and take over the office of Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia on August 6, 2010 at the Cathedral Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul.
• Bishop-designate William Patrick Callahan will be installed as the tenth Bishop of the Diocese of Lacrosse on August 11, 2010.
• Bishop-designate Joseph McFadden will be installed as the tenth Bishop of the Diocese of Harrisburg on August 18, 2010.
• Bishop-elect F. Richard Spencer will be ordained to the episcopacy and take over the office of Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese for the Military Services during a 2:00 p.m. celebration at the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC on September 8, 2010.

In case you missed the live feed of the Mass of Installation of Bishop Thomas J. Paprocki as the ninth bishop of the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois, below you will find a copy of the post-communion remarks of the “Holy Goalie”. (If you don’t know much about the good Bishop, that last phrase will make much more sense after you read his comments.)

Source: Diocese of Springfield in Illinois

Eucharist is thanksgiving to God, and now that we have given thanks to God in this Eucharist, there are some people who also deserve our thanks for their role in this celebration.

First of all, I thank our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, for his confidence in entrusting me with the pastoral care of the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois. A Catholic bishop acts in communion with the college of bishops and the head of that college, the Bishop of Rome, the successor of St. Peter. As I promised in taking the profession of faith and oath of fidelity when I became a bishop, I pledge to stay true to the Catholic faith and preserve communion with the Holy Father and my fellow Catholic bishops.

I am grateful to Archbishop Pietro Sambi, who, as Apostolic Nuncio to the United States of America, serves as the Holy Father’s personal representative in our country. Archbishop Sambi’s delegate at this Mass is Reverend Monsignor Marco Sprizzi, Secretary to the Apostolic Nuncio at the Vatican Embassy in Washington, D.C. Thank you, Monsignor Sprizzi, for your presence and for bringing with you the official Papal Letter of Appointment and reading the English translation of it at the beginning of this liturgy.

Once again, I express my profound gratitude to our Metropolitan Archbishop, His Eminence Francis Cardinal George, for presiding at this Installation. I remember the very first time I traveled with you after you arrived as Archbishop of Chicago and I was serving as your Chancellor. We were seated together on a plane

As promised, here is the full text of Bishop Thomas John Paprocki’s installation homily:

Bishop Thomas Paprocki | Source: Diocese of Springfield in IL

Your Eminences, Cardinal George and Cardinal Keeler; my brother Bishops, priests, deacons, men and women religious, civic officials, brothers and sisters in Christ, it is good to be with you.

I have been a regular visitor to Springfield since my childhood. Those visits introduced me to our state capital and to the world of Abraham Lincoln. Now, I am no longer a visitor, and I am happy to call Springfield my new home.

This day was chosen for my Mass of Reception and Installation as the Ninth Bishop of Springfield in Illinois mainly for three reasons. One is that this day was available on the calendar of our Metropolitan Archbishop, His Eminence Francis Cardinal George. This is a very important reason and I am immensely grateful not only that he officially installed me just a few minutes ago in the cathedra, the chair which is the symbol of the Bishop’s office, but also because one could say that he has been leading and mentoring me to this chair for the past thirteen years. It has been my privilege to serve him as Chancellor, as pastor of a parish, and as his 2

auxiliary bishop for the past seven years. In so many ways he has truly been a mentor for me, teaching me how to be a bishop, providing an example of how to be a good shepherd caring for the flock of our Lord’s faithful people.

Secondly, even though my appointment was announced two months ago, I needed some time to finish up my Confirmation schedule and other responsibilities, not the least of which was staying in Chicago until my beloved Blackhawks had won the Stanley Cup!

In advance of Tuesday’s Mass of Installation for the ninth bishop of the Diocese of Springfield, Illinois, an interview has been posted on the diocesan newspaper‘s website. The 140,000+ Catholics of the diocese will welcome Bishop-designate Thomas J. Paprocki to his new home with a 2:00 p.m. celebration in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. If you are interested in viewing the ceremony, a live stream will be up on the diocesan website. CatholicTV will also air the installation at 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday evening. For now, here is Papo’s interview:

Source: Catholic Times

Well folks, here is the video from the Mass of Installation of the fourth archbishop of the Archdiocese of Miami, Thomas Gerard Wenski.

If you would prefer the video from the Archdiocese of Miami, please follow the following link: http://www.miamiarch.org/ip.asp?op=Article_10531171852608.

And, if anyone was interested, here is what the liturgical hammer looked like.