Bishop Herbert Hermes

Born • May 25, 1933 Professed • July 11, 1954 Ordained • May 26, 1960 Ordained Bishop • September 2, 1990 Died • January 3, 2018

by Joe Bollig, the Leaven

The letter Father Herbert Hermes, OSB, received from the apostolic nunciature in Brazil was most unwelcome. With apprehension, he opened and read it at midnight on June 9, 1990, at St. Joseph Priory in Mineiros, Brazil. And the letter contained an important question. Would the Kansas monk accept the Holy Father’s appointment to become bishop of the Prelacy of Cristalandia? “I immediately went to the chapel,” Bishop Herbert recounted much later, “and there, before the Blessed Sacrament, I fought against the proposal.” The monk, born in Shallow Water, Kansas, came from a modest, working-class family in a small Kansas town. “I didn’t feel comfortable with the prestige of [being] a member of the hierarchy with reverences and kissing of my hand,” he said. Cristalandia was a land so poor and the church there so weak that it couldn’t even rate as a diocese. The prelacy had experienced four years of neglect because the previous two bishops were limited by serious illnesses. His prayer did not yield the answer he’d hoped for. “The phrase, ‘They are like sheep without a shepherd,’ kept bombarding my thoughts,” he said.

“Finally, at 4 a.m., I gave in and accepted trying to be ‘pastor’ of this ‘flock without a shepherd,’” he continued. Father Herbert was ordained a bishop on Sept. 2, 1990 in St. Benedict’s Abbey Church in Atchison, . And what a shepherd he was. He worked hard — and effectively — to build up the church spiritually and temporally. He was a tireless advocate for human rights, so much so that, for a time, he was on a hit list of a death squad sponsored by powerful business interests in Brazil. Even after he retired to St. Joseph the Worker Parish in Paraiso do Tocantins in 2008, Bishop Herbert continued to advocate for the poor and oppressed. On January 3, 2018, however, the poor and oppressed of Brazil lost a shepherd. Bishop Herbert died of complications from pneumonia at the General Hospital of Palmas, Tocantins. A funeral Mass was celebrated at St. Joseph the Worker Parish. He was buried in the crypt of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Cristalandia, Tocantins. Bishop Herbert was born on May 25, 1933, in Shallow Water, about eight miles south of Scott City. He was the ninth child of John Nicholas and Mary Ann (Hilger) Hermes. He was born five minutes before his identical twin brother, Norbert, the family’s tenth child. The future bishop and Norbert learned from their older brothers to serve Mass at St. Joseph Parish in Scott City. “We started when we were in the third grade,” said Norbert Hermes, “We could hardly see above the altar, and could barely reach the [Roman Missal].” Bishop Herbert was educated in public schools and, after high school graduation in 1951, went to St. Benedict’s College. He professed first vows on July 11, 1954, and solemn vows in 1957. He also graduated in May that year with degrees in biology and philosophy. He completed theological studies and was ordained a priest on May 26, 1960. His ordination classmates, Father Blaine Schultz and Father Albert Hauser, survive; Father Emeric Fletcher and Father Bruce Swift preceded him in death. At the time of his ordination, the abbey was establishing a mission foundation in Mineiros, Brazil.

Bishop Herbert was a champion for the poor of Brazil, seeking to be a shepherd and stand up for their rights – a ministry he continued until his death. Bishop Herbert was one of the first monks to volunteer to serve in Brazil in 1962.

“I volunteered as a [transitional] deacon and was accepted after [priestly] ordination,” Bishop Herbert said in a 2011 interview. He and Abbot Ralph Koehler traveled to Brazil in October 1962. When he arrived in Brazil, the future bishop couldn’t speak a word of Portuguese. After a 16-week course in Petropolis, near Rio de Janeiro, he began his ministry in February 1963 at St. Joseph Priory in Mineiros. He became pastor in 1972. Bishop Herbert was active in promoting the faith: the Cursillio movement at the parish and diocesan level, the introduction of the Worldwide Marriage Encounter movement and its continuance in the Jatai Diocese, and teaching high school for many years. Bishop Herbert served as coordinator of the Parish Social Work Committee, as administrator of two daycare centers for working mothers, care homes for the elderly, and as spiritual director for youth. At the Priory he served as Prior and novicemaster, 1985-1989, and twice as subprior. In 1990, before being made Bishop, he was appointed formation director of the newly established St. Joseph Priory house of studies in Goiania, Goias. Meeting the mandatory retirement age, he resigned as Bishop of Cristalandia September 11, 2008, but continued to play an active part in promoting a society that was fair, fraternal, and God-fearing. Father Duane Roy, on the occasion of Bishop Herbert’s 20th anniversary in 2010, wrote: “During the 19 years of his episcopal duties, Bishop Herbert ordained sixteen diocesan priests . . . created seven parishes . . . [and] subdivided the prelacy into five pastoral regions. He welcomed . . . several religious congregations of men and women; and promoted numerous encounters, assemblies and meetings for the formation of his pastoral agents.” Bishop Herbert was active in organizations promoting the human, social, political, and economic rights of indigenous and poor persons, who were often exploited and victimized by powerful alliances of corrupt government and business. He exposed the practice of modern slavery and worked to rescue the enslaved. In 1994, he created the Center of Human Rights of Cristalandia and established offshoots called Human Rights Nucleos. In 2002, he received national recognition as a Distinguished Personality in Human Rights. “Bishop Herbert understood that the basic need of many people was to own their own piece of land and learn a basic trade to escape poverty,” said Bishop Herbert’s nephew Joel Hermes. “The bishop knew full well the dangers of taking on the elite class and speaking out for the impoverished.

“He would not be intimidated.” His niece, Lori Wilbur, remembered how the whole family would gather for reunions when Bishop Herbert visited. Her father, Norbert, she and her siblings would all help distribute the bishop’s newsletters and promote his causes. She came to understand why the Latin word fiat was on his bishop’s miter. “He was an inspiration,” said Wilbur. “He would come back and raise funds for the ministries and for his social justice work among the poor. It was always an inspiration to see how he lived his life . . . [It was] a constant ‘yes’ to God.” Bishop Herbert inspired a cousin and a nephew as they discerned Bishop Herbert returned to the Abbey for his episcopal ordination their own vocations to the priesthood. Not only did he baptize his nephew, Father Alphonsus Hermes, O.Praem., he also ordained him on September 2, 1990. a priest on June 29, 2001. “Something that impacts me today is . . . I remember him saying many times about his concern for the excluded,” said Father Alphonsus, a Norbertine priest at St. Michael’s Abbey in Silverado, California. “He said it with a lot of passion. He really felt for those who were excluded.” A cousin, Father Michael Hermes, pastor of St. Paul Parish in Olathe, was also ordained by Bishop Herbert. The bishop would often stop in to see him on visits to see family in Kansas. “He would tell us so many stories of the mission in Brazil,” said Father Hermes. “I visited him twice in Brazil. . . . I was so impressed with his energy, his love for the people and his advocacy for justice and human rights driven by the Gospel and Catholic social teaching...I think he was a true missionary,” he continued. “He adapted himself into Brazilian culture and into the church in Brazil. He loved Jesus. He loved the church. He loved Brazil. He loved the people of Cristalandia. “Everything he did in his life was motivated by love.” Bishop Herbert is survived by two brothers, Norbert, in Salina and Eugene, in Montana; a sister, Lucilla Herman, in Oklahoma; nephews and nieces; and his brother monks at St. Benedict’s Abbey and the faithful of the Prelacy of Cristalandia. He was preceded in death by his parents, three sisters and four brothers. Editor’s note: This article originally appeared on January 12, 2018, in The Leaven, the Newspaper for the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas. For more from Joe Bollig and the Leaven see their website theleaven.org