Priests, Bishops and Cardinals you Admire

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catholic03

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Hello

I have been interested in creating a thread like this for a while. Our
  • 414,582 priests.
  • 5,100 bishops.
  • 223 cardinals.
are holy men who, having been ordained to the sacrament of Holy Orders, instituted by Our Lord himself, are inspiring people. They work hard for God and the Church that they love.

But, what members of the hierarchy do you particularly admire - I’ll start:
  • I really like my ordinary, Archbishop John Cardinal Dew for his commitment to the faith in this part of the world.
  • I also really admire Raymond Cardinal Burke - his message does resonate with me. He is a true defender of the faith and a great advocate of the traditional practices of the Church.
  • Bishop Athanasius Schneider - another defender of the teachings of the Church, and true defender of the faith.
  • I also like Archbishop Vincent Cardinal Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster and de facto Primate of the Church in England and Wales. Being of British descent and having close links to the country, I am always proud of the Church in that part of the world.
  • Bishop Emeritus Fabian Bruskewitz - for his no-nonsense defense of the Catholic position on social issues.
  • The FSSP pastor at the Extraordinary Form parish in Auckland, NZ.
  • Our dear Holy Father, Pope Francis.
Others I admire include Cardinal Blase Cupich, Cardinal Thomas Williams, Fr Mike Schmitz, Fr Arturo Sosa and many others.

So, what members of the hierarchy do you admire the most, and why?
 
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Many of the ones you mentioned. I admire Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI and Robert Cardinal Sarah for having the courage to write a defense of priestly celibacy when they felt it was coming under attack.
 
I really like Pope Francis. His balanced view and holistic style, along with his warmess contribute to this.

I also like Archbishop Schönborn OP for his intellectual approach. However, I find some comments he made about homosexual behaviors troubling.

Of course, even though no one here knows them, I would like to mention my parish priests and priest for my Lay Movement (Movimiento Puente). Jorge Campero and David Isarra. the last one is also my Spiritual Director 🙂
 
I’m a huge fan of Pope Emeritus Benedict. Also, I have great respect for my local bishop.

In addition, there are several priests who I’m close to, particularly the priest who received me into the Church.
 
His Beatitude Sviatoslav Shevchuk
Cardinal Zen
Cardinal Burke
Cardinal Brandenmuller
Cardinal Sarah
Archbishop Borys Gudziak, our Metropolitan
Archbishop emeritus Stephen Sulyk
Archbishop emeritus Stefan Soroka
Bishop Andrij Rabij
Bishop John Bura
My pastor
 
I take it they have to be living.

I really admire several of the local parish priests who are older men and have suffered injuries or physical disabilities, yet manage to stumble, drag or otherwise get themselves around the sanctuary to say daily Masses even when I am terrified they’re going to fall. They give wonderful homilies even on weekdays. I pray for them regularly. There were two more in this category until recently when they passed away.

I admire the pastor up the street who is so kind and devoted to Mary and good at teaching the children when the sisters bring a class over to Mass.

I admire Cardinal Burke for promoting the Holy Face and Our Lady of America devotions.

I admire a very old, wizened, learned, retired priest I remember from my childhood who in those days was a very tall, dark, Transylvanian priest with some kind of European accent and us kids called him “Fr. Dracula” from the first minute he walked into the sanctuary (I actually remember that moment) but he turned out to be a really good priest and so helpful to my mother. I check the directory of the diocese he is in on a regular basis to see if he’s still with us. He has somehow managed to outlive pretty much all the other priests I knew from that era, even though he wasn’t a terribly young man when he came to our parish.

I admire the priests from Africa who left their families far behind so they can minister to us entitled Americans in a language that’s not their native tongue, and they still manage to be kind to us even though I know they are thinking all our problems are first world ones.
 
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Borys Gudziak–The Archeparch of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia.
Unique and historic personality.
He is not a Jesuit but he has so many features from the most spiritual Jesuits.
His personality defense capitalism in its virgins, pure, humanistic idea, but unfortunately his experience is 1 among millions.
If all rich people would be like him, this world would become the earthly paradise.
 
I admire my parish priest who is in his 70s who celebrated Sunday Mass after having emergency surgery to have his appendix removed the previous day. He said he wanted to give thanks to God.

I admire the few priests in my Diocese who offer the TLM because it is so difficult for them to find a substitute priest when they are sick. They often celebrate Mass for us when they are quite sick.

I admire my priest spiritual director who has listened to me yack about my spiritual life for the past 12 years. He has certainly earned years off purgatory 😁
 
Cardinal Burke
Cardinal Sarah
Bishop Joseph Strickland
Bishop Barron
Fr. Mike Schmitz
Fr. Richard Heilman
Fr. Donald Calloway MIC
Fr. Michael Gaitley MIC
Fr. Casey Cole OFM

Also my bishop and parish priest; both for their humility and deep concern for the souls in their care.
 
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