Good morning, folks. This afternoon, Catholics in the Diocese of Orlando officially welcome their new shepherd, former Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Miami, Bishop John Noonan. The Mass of Installation will take place at the Basilica of the National Shrine of Mary, Queen of the Universe at 2:00 p.m.

The Mass will be streamed on the Diocese of Orlando Website; more information on that can be found here: http://www.orlandodiocese.org/en/solemn-mass-of-installation. If you would like to follow along with the Mass, below is the program.

More to come, after the Installation this afternoon.

Archbishop Thomas Wenski processes into St. James Cathedral

Good Saturday evening to one and all! Earlier this morning, Archbishop Thomas Wenski presided over the re-dedication Mass of Saint James Cathedral in Downtown Orlando. It was quite the experience!

Before the Mass began, a special Cathedral Choir made up of Spanish, English, and Haitain-Creole speaking singers offered songs of praise and thanksgiving. After the prelude music came to an end, the procession into the Cathedral began, led by a processional cross donated to the Diocese of Orlando by the Archdiocese of Chicago. The crucifix was first used during the installation of Bishop Thomas Grady in St. Charles Cathedral–Orlando’s first Cathedral–which was devastated by a fire on October 1, 1976. St. James was dedicated as the second Cathedral of the Diocese of Orlando on November 20, 1977.

Towards the front of the procession was Bishop Louis Campese, bishop of the Anglican Diocese of the Eastern United States. As you may recall, Bishop Campese and the Cathedral of the Incarnation in Orlando welcomed the Apostolic Constitution, Anglicanorum Coetibus, of Pope Benedict XVI in September. [On a side note, the Cathedral of the Incarnation is located in the College Park area of Orlando. It is about two miles away from St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church--my parish. Another Catholic Church is also in the neighborhood, St. Phillip Phan Van Minh, the Diocese of Orlando's only Vietnamese parish. Once the parish of the Cathedral of the Incarnation becomes Catholic, College Park  will be home to three Catholic churches. Just a thought.]

Bishop John Noonan | Credit: Archdiocese of Miami

In one of the rare Saturday appointments of Pope Benedict XVI, Bishop John Noonan, until this time Auxiliary of Miami, has been named the fifth bishop of the Diocese of Orlando.

Bishop John Noonan was born in Limerick, Ireland on February 26, 1951. After moving to the United States in the 1970s, Noonan entered St. John Vianney College Seminary in Miami, graduating with a bachelor of arts degree in philosophy in 1979. He earned his Master of Divinity from St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boynton Beach in 1983. On September 23rd of that year, Noonan was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Miami at St. Paul of the Cross Church in North Palm Beach. Bishop Noonan also holds a Master of Education from Boston College.

Throughout his priesthood, Bishop Noonan has served as a parochial vicar, chaplain to youth ministry, Dean of Men at Miami’s college seminary, supervising principal at Monsignor Pace High School and St. Brendan High School, and Rector/President of St. John Vianney College Seminary.

2009 Pallium Mass in Rome | REUTERS

Sorry for the lack of posts over the last couple of days, which have been rather eventful for me. On Friday morning I flew out of Orlando International Airport bound for Los Angeles to celebrate the coming together of my brother and his fiancé in matrimony. I flew home last evening. Needless to say, I am a bit tired but still kickin’. So, in case you have been out of the loop in recent days or weeks with your vacation plans, here is a bit of a look at the week ahead (well, at least the first couple of days of it).

This evening, the Holy Father will celebrate vespers for tomorrow’s Feast of Ss. Peter and Paul with the newly installed Metropolitan Archbishops from throughout the world. Tomorrow, a Mass will celebrated where the palliums will be conferred on the new metropolitans, all 38 of them, by Pope Benedict XVI. The pallium is a wool band about “two inches wide, worn about the neck,

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.