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Happening ... in the Local Church
Sixth bishop named for Diocese of Lafayette-in-Indiana
New bishop announced, installation July 15
 Bishop-elect
Timothy L. Doherty (left) is introduced at a news conference in
Lafayette May 12. He will succeed Bishop William L. Higi (right) as
bishop of the Diocese of Lafayette-in-Indiana. (Photo by Caroline B.
Mooney) |
By Kevin Cullen
The
Catholic Moment
LAFAYETTE — Bishop-elect Timothy L. Doherty said “yes” to God and the Church in 1976 when he was ordained a priest for his home diocese, the Diocese of Rockford, Illinois.
He has said “yes” again by accepting the pope’s call to serve as the sixth bishop of the Diocese of Lafayette-in-Indiana. The appointment was announced May 12; the installation will be celebrated July 15.
“I am humbled by the call of our Holy Father Benedict XVI. This part of my priesthood was not anticipated,” he said at a news conference held May 12 at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception.
The retirement of Bishop William L. Higi was announced at the same time. A prayer service and reception followed.
“I am privileged to be with you,” Bishop-elect Doherty told the crowd of approximately 100, “and besides acknowledging the common faith that draws us all here … the discipleship of Christ, I am simply pledging myself to you and I ask for your prayers and help.
“It’s just such a transition — for which I’m appreciative — but it’s all new,” said the former parish priest, a monsignor, who was diocesan health care ethicist.
“... I like to say I was in charge of leaks, lights, locks, loans and lawns … today, it’s a different life.”
Bishop Higi, 76, bishop since 1984, will serve as apostolic administrator until Bishop-elect Doherty, 59, is ordained and installed.
The new bishop-elect was greeted with a standing ovation by diocesan staff, clergy and well-wishers. He said he had no “grand vision or plan at this point.”
He declined to discuss any challenges facing the diocese, because, he said with a smile, he had been in Lafayette for only one hour.
Following long tradition, strict secrecy surrounded the appointment, and that limited his ability to make contact.
When he received the call on April 16, Msgr. Doherty was the pastor of two parishes: St. Catherine of Siena, in Dundee, Ill., and St. Mary Mission, in Gilberts, Ill. The Dundee parish is large and suburban; the Gilberts parish is small and rural.
The Lafayette diocese was formed in 1944. No previous bishop had ever served as bishop of a diocese before, and only one had served as an auxiliary bishop.
Bishop Higi, a native of Anderson, was ordained a priest for the Lafayette diocese in 1959. He has served as an associate pastor, parish administrator, secretary to the bishop, vice chancellor, chancellor and vicar general. He was elected administrator of the diocese when Bishop George Fulcher died in 1984, and was installed as bishop later that year.
“A lot of anticipation”
A bishop is required to submit a letter of resignation at the time of his 75th birthday. Bishop Higi turned 75 in August 2008, so for nearly two years, he and Catholics throughout the diocese waited for word from Rome on the appointment of a successor.
The selection process is conducted in secret; no candidate is supposed to know he is being considered until he is offered the position.
“There was a lot of anticipation … all kinds of rumors floating around,” said Bishop Higi, who received formal notice on April 22 from Archbishop Pietro Sambi, apostolic nuncio to the United States.
Responding to a reporter’s question, Bishop-elect Doherty said he received the life-changing call just after presiding at the funeral for a 53-year-old fire department lieutenant.
The man had died unexpectedly, leaving four children. More than 100 firefighters paid tribute. At the request of the family, Bishop-elect Doherty and others wore green wristbands that read, “Donate Life,” to encourage organ donations.
Shortly after he returned to the office, sad and tired from the funeral, the phone rang.
With a smile, he said he didn’t know that when he put his wristband on that in less than 30 minutes, he would make a “whole body donation to the Diocese of Lafayette.”
Bishop Higi said that a priest is compelled by his vow of obedience to say “yes” when he is asked to become a bishop … even if it means leaving his support system and adapting to a new diocese with its own culture and history.
The Diocese of Lafayette covers 24 counties and has 63 parishes with 105,000 Catholics. The Diocese of Rockford, with 11 counties, has 105 parishes and approximately 450,000 Catholics. Both have a mix of rural, suburban and urban parishes.
About the bishop-elect
Bishop-elect Doherty is the oldest of seven children. His parents, now retired, live in Rockford, and most of his siblings reside nearby. He attended Catholic grade schools, high-school seminary, and St. Ambrose College, Davenport, Iowa. He earned his degree in theology from Gregorian University in Rome, and later earned a doctorate in Christian ethics from Loyola University, Chicago.
After his ordination, he served Rockford’s cathedral parish, taught a total of 14 years in Catholic high schools and served as an assistant principal.
He was appointed diocesan ethicist for health care issues in 1995, and served on the board of the Illinois Catholic Health Association.
For three years, he was associate professor at OSF St. Anthony College of Nursing in Rockford, where he taught courses in theology and health care ethics. He has served several parishes.
His parish in Dundee is nearly as large as Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish, the largest parish in the Lafayette diocese.
Bishop-elect Doherty has been active in heath care issues for years, at the diocesan, state and national levels. Catholic hospitals and nursing homes, he said, form a “huge part of the ministry of the Church.”
He said he welcomed the opportunity to work to ensure that they continue to offer clinical excellence, ethical standards and service to the poor and suffering.
When asked about Catholic education, he noted that when he was ordained, priests were expected to also teach. “I learned to love it,” he said.
He taught part-time and full-time in two Catholic high schools, he said, and “the older I got, the more I enjoyed working with the parents.”
He said that the Rockford diocese has a good system of diocesan elementary schools, including one at his parish in Dundee. Catholic schools, he said, are vital in providing “good education, a faith-based education.”
“Everybody’s bishop”
Responding to a question about ministry to Hispanics, Bishop-elect Doherty noted that approximately one-third of the Rockford diocese is of Hispanic/Latino origin. Several other ethnic groups also are present.
Although unfamiliar with the situation in the Lafayette diocese, he said that a bishop must be “everybody’s bishop.”
Father Bob Williams, pastor of St. Mary and St. Ambrose parishes in Anderson, asked about his hobbies and interests.
Bishop-elect Doherty said that he enjoys reading, golf and bicycling, and he noted that he is “part of that scarred legion of people called Cubs fans.” He said he also finds refreshment in prayer, meditation, liturgy and family gatherings.
“It is a great blessing for us”
Bishop Higi will move out of the Bishop’s Residence — the former Murdock home, built in 1912 — and into a three-room condominium in Lafayette.
Although he will be available to assist the new bishop in any way, “I think it is very important for me to sort of disappear for a while so he can get his feet on the ground, and send a clear message to everybody that he is the new shepherd,” he said.
In retirement, “I want to be as helpful as I can for as long as I can,” he said. He said he hoped to fill in for vacationing priests in the parishes, visit retired priests, and “talk about old times.”
“I know that your prayers are for your new bishop and that the transition will be a good one,” Bishop Higi said. “… He will have his own style; he will be his own man. It is a great blessing for us to have a man with more energy, a man with a different vision and a different experience of Church. I couldn’t be happier with the choice.”