PAGETWO Retired Bishop Pates appointed apostolic administrator of Archdiocese of Dubuque

By Joe Ruff

The Catholic Spirit

Bishop Emeritus Richard Pates, a native of the Twin Cities who served as an auxiliary bishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis from 2001 to 2008, has been appointed apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Dubuque, Iowa, as Archbishop Michael Jackels resigns because of health reasons.

Bishop Pates — who was appointed bishop of Des Moines, Iowa, in 2008 — retired in September 2019 and returned to Minnesota. However, in December of that year he was appointed apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Joliet, Illinois, as Bishop Daniel Conlon took a medical leave of absence and then retired in May 2020. Bishop Pates served in that role until October 2020.

In April 2021, Bishop Pates was appointed apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Crookston, until Bishop Andrew Cozzens’ installation in that diocese in December of that year.

Pope Francis accepting Archbishop Jackels’ resignation and appointing Bishop Pates to Dubuque were publicized in Washington April 4 by Archbishop Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States. An archdiocesan statement said Bishop Pates, 80, will serve as apostolic administrator until a successor to Archbishop Jackels is named.

In a letter posted on the archdiocesan website, Archbishop Jackels told the faithful, “For health reasons, I asked our Holy Father Francis — may God preserve him — to accept my resignation as Archbishop of Dubuque. Jesus called me to this ministry, and I wouldn’t take my hands

from this plow unless Jesus, through his Vicar on earth, called me away. And so it is, effective 4 April 2023.”

The archbishop gave no details about his health in the letter. At 68, he is seven years younger than the age at which canon law requires bishops to turn in their resignation to the pope. He turns 69 April 13. In early May 2019, the archbishop suffered a heart attack and was admitted to a Dubuque hospital, where surgeons placed two stents into his coronary arteries. Some six weeks later, his cardiologist OK’d his return to ministry.

BISHOP EMERITUS RICHARD PATES

“I’ve enjoyed getting to know you, praying with you, sharing meals together, joining you as a partner in ministry. Your responses on our Synod Survey confirmed our ministry: sharing with the Church and the poor; learning/teaching the Gospel; devotion to and worship of the Eucharist,” Archbishop Jackels wrote. “These are ministries that you rightly appreciate, are presently committed to, and want to see enhanced. Keep up the good work. You’re great. God bless you. I’ll miss you,” he added. “Let us pray for each other, and keep our eyes fixed on Jesus.”

The Archdiocese of Dubuque is comprised of 17,403 square miles and has a total population of 1,017,175, of which 185,260 are Catholic.

On the March 31 “Practicing Catholic” radio show, host Patrick Conley interviews Julie Craven, who volunteers as ombudsperson for victim-survivors of clerical sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and is associate director of the Initiative on Restorative Justice and Healing at the University of St. Thomas School of Law in Minneapolis. Also featured are Mike Rios-Keating, social justice education manager at Catholic Charities Twin Cities, who describes a new way to help people in need this Easter season; and Gary Bowman as he starts up a St. Louis Park-based ministry called Hospitality Houses for Divine Mercy, to help those experiencing homelessness who have mental health challenges. Listen to interviews after they have aired at PracticingcatholicShow com or anchor fm/Practicingcatholic-Show with links to streaming platforms.

A story in the March 9 edition about the food center at Incarnation in Minneapolis stated a volunteer picks up food at United Natural Foods in Prescott, Wisconsin. An employee of St. Vincent de Paul-Twin Cities, driving a refrigerated truck, makes that weekly trip.

The northern lights blaze behind St. Nicholas church in Carver early March 24 in a photo taken by Shawn Riesgraf, 32, a parishioner and member of the parish finance council. Riesgraf sent the photo to his mother, Pam, also a parishioner, who shared it with The Catholic Spirit. A solar storm supercharged auroras across the United States March 23 and March 24, particularly in the north. News reports indicated people as far south as New Mexico and Arizona saw the display.

The 90th Archdiocesan Conference of Catholic Women convention takes place April 28 at St. Peter in Mendota. An estimated 150 or more women are expected to attend, said Christine Allie, office manager of the Office of Archdiocesan Council of Catholic Women. During the convention, Doreen Hogan of St. Mary in Le Center will be installed to a two-year term as the new president. Four winners of this year’s Laywoman Volunteer Awards also will be recognized (see page 6). ACCW members Chloe Breczinski, a parishioner of Immaculate Heart of Mary in Minnetonka, and Lucy Johnson, a member of St. Francis de Sales in St. Paul, will speak at the convention, as will keynote speaker Father Tim Tran, parochial vicar of St. Stephen in Anoka and the archdiocese’s “point person” for the National Eucharistic Revival.

Two Catholic high schools faced each other in the State Boys Basketball Tournament finals March 25. In a repeat of last year’s Class AAA finals, Totino-Grace High School in Fridley won its second consecutive championship by defeating DeLaSalle High School in Minneapolis 50-46. Totino-Grace finished the season with a record of 24-8, while DeLaSalle ended with a record of 26-6. In Class AA, Holy Family High School in Victoria advanced to the semifinals before falling to Minnehaha Academy 72-76. For over 25 years, Elaine Grendahl, a parishioner of St. Michael in Prior Lake, has been sharing information from parishes in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis that have special plans for celebrating Divine Mercy Sunday. Examples include time for confession, eucharistic adoration and Benediction speakers, devotions, plenary indulgence prayers and the Divine Mercy chaplet. To see a list of parishes in the archdiocese with plans for Divine Mercy Sunday, the weekend of April 15-16 this year, visit thecatholicSPirit com/divinemercy or use the QR code printed here.

The Catholic Spirit’s next issue will appear in three weeks on April 27, with special coverage of Bishop-elect Michael Izen and his episcopal ordination.