New Diocese of Steubenville bishop ordained

[Dale_M]

About 2,000 people attended a ceremony at Franciscan University of Steubenville to install and ordain new bishop for the Diocese of Steubenville.

Bishop Jeffrey M. Monforton, of Michigan, was selected in July to lead nearly 40,000 Roman Catholics in the Diocese of Steubenville. The diocese has been without a bishop for about a year.

Monforton, who was a monsignor until today, was previously pastor of the Saint Andrew Parish in Rochester, Mich., and is originally from Detroit. Monforton told NEWS9 he came to Steubenville last week and is looking forward to serving people here.

wtov9.com/news/news/new-steubenville-bishop-be-installed-ordained-fran/nR65Q/

And Steubenville Mayor Domenick Mucci proclaimed Monday as “Bishop Jeffrey M. Monforton Day” in the city.

 

[Dale_M]

Former Bishop Daniel Conlon left last July to take the position as a bishop in Illinois. Conlon did much for the diocese and Monforton said he plans to continue doing the same.

“I certainly don’t wish to deviate from that, but certainly to continue on assessing and being proactive in making certain the churches themselves are as welcoming and accessible as possible to people,” he said.

wtov9.com/news/news/breaking-news/michigan-preist-appointed-bishop-diocese-steubenvi/nPktB/

(NB: News article is two months old)

Some biographical details about the new bishop

On June 25, 1994, he was ordained to the priesthood at the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament, Detroit, by Archbishop Adam Maida. Following his ordination, he served in the Archdiocese of Detroit as associate pastor at the National Shrine of the Little Flower, Royal Oak, from 1994-96, while also serving the faculty at the parish high school for two academic years in the department of religion.

For seven years, from 1998-2005, he served as the personal priest secretary to Cardinal Maida. During that time, he, also, was a member of the Sacred Heart Major Seminary faculty and assisted weekends at St. Paul on the Lake, Grosse Pointe Farms, and St. Jane Frances de Chantal, Sterling Heights.

On July 1, 2005, he was named pastor of St. Therese of Lisieux Church, Shelby Township, Mich., and that same year was conferred the title of monsignor by Pope Benedict.

In addition, he was named as an apostolic visitor by the Congregation for Catholic Education to participate in the recent apostolic visitation of U.S. seminaries and houses of formation for the academic year, 2005-06.

home.catholicweb.com/diosteub/index.cfm/NewsItem?ID=338498

Bishop Monforton recently completed a six year term as rector of Sacred Heart Seminary.

 

[Dale_M]

Some additional perspective on Bishop Monforton’s plans for the diocese

“There are a lot of options to study in this diocese. I will continue a healthy assessment of what has been proposed by Bishop Conlon. I want the church to be welcoming with a strong pastoral outreach. One of my hallmarks has always been education. I look at how we can work with younger children and how do we bolster older children in their faith,” Monforton noted during his introductory press conference in July.

“My first priority as bishop of Steubenville will be the salvation of souls. I also want to make sure our parishes are strong. And I want to look at our media. I want to broaden our approach. I have a smartphone, but I don’t have time for Facebook or Twitter. I also believe education is essential. I also believe there is a need for social outreach in the diocese,” cited Monforton.

weirtondailytimes.com/page/content.detail/id/587899/Monforton-installed-as-new-bishop.html?nav=5006

 

[CaptFun]

wtov9.com/news/news/new-steubenville-bishop-be-installed-ordained-fran/nR65Q/

And Steubenville Mayor Domenick Mucci proclaimed Monday as “Bishop Jeffrey M. Monforton Day” in the city.

Wow. 40,000 is a diocese? That’s not even a sellout at Anaheim Stadium out here in Orange County, CA.

Maybe that’s a good thing. I like the Bishop’s initial comments, especially that the Diocese’s number one priority would be to “save souls.” That should be a yawning cliche I suppose, but for some reason actually hearing it spoken out is … refreshing.

Hope his proximity to one of the top Catholic Universities in the US (THE top?) lends itself
to him ordaining many more priests who also have the priority of “saving souls”.

In the Diocese of Orange, CA we supposedly have 1.2 Million Catholics in a County of 3 million people. But NO major Catholic University like Stuebenville. We have a Crystal Cathedral now though!

Bishop Tod Brown has passed the mandatory retirement age but no successor has been named yet that I know of. Whoever the coming new shepherd will be, it would be all right with me if he plagiarizes (but lives up to the ideals enunciated in) Bishop Monforton’s speech.

"My first priority as bishop of Steubenville will be the salvation of souls. I also want to make sure our parishes are strong. And I want to look at our media. I want to broaden our approach. I have a smartphone, but I don’t have time for Facebook or Twitter. I also believe education is essential. I also believe there is a need for social outreach in the diocese," cited Monforton.

 

[ByzCathCantor]

And Steubenville Mayor Domenick Mucci proclaimed Monday as “Bishop Jeffrey M. Monforton Day” in the city.

I’m surprised the atheists who sued over the Steubenville city logo didn’t also protest the civil declaration of a day honoring a Catholic bishop.

 

[Dale_M]

Wow. 40,000 is a diocese? That’s not even a sellout at Anaheim Stadium out here in Orange County, CA.

Yes, due to its small population I was surprised to read that Steubenville is a diocese. I know that many diocese in Europe are similarly sized, but assumed that was largely a historical artifact.

Steubenville was erected as a diocese in 1944. Given the industrial boom of the war years, and Steubenville’s proximity to Pittsburgh’s steel industry, perhaps their were expectations that the population would become larger over time?

I like the Bishop’s initial comments, especially that the Diocese’s number one priority would be to “save souls.” That should be a yawning cliche I suppose, but for some reason actually hearing it spoken out is … refreshing.

Yes, I was surprised by that as well. It has an old-fashioned ring to it, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It suggests a concern with orthodoxy and also pastoral focus. The emphasis on education also sounds promising.

 

[Dale_M]

I’m surprised the atheists who sued over the Steubenville city logo didn’t also protest the civil declaration of a day honoring a Catholic bishop.

I almost commented on that, but didn’t want to give them any ideas.

 

[ByzCathCantor]

I almost commented on that, but didn’t want to give them any ideas.

We’ll rain on their parade.

Many years to His Grace, Bishop Monforton! Mnohaja l’ita, Vladyko!