Archives for February 2025

February 12, 2025 by Colin Rahill

Release Date: February 12, 2025

Pope Francis Appoints Chicago’s Auxiliary Bishop Casey as Archbishop of Cincinnati

Pope Francis announced today that he has accepted the resignation of Most Reverend Dennis M. Schnurr from pastoral governance of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati and has appointed Most Reverend Robert G. Casey, Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Chicago, as the 10th archbishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.

Archbishop-designate Casey has been a priest for more than 30 years, having been ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Chicago in 1994. He was ordained a Bishop in 2018 by Most Reverend Blase J. Cupich, Cardinal Archbishop of Chicago.

“It is with gratitude and humility that I accept Pope Francis’ invitation to serve the present generation of faithful in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. I am profoundly grateful to Archbishop Schnurr for his kindness to me upon receiving the news of my appointment. Please join me in continuing to pray for him,” said Archbishop-designate Casey. “As archbishop, my primary role will be one of discipleship. Entrusted with proclaiming the joy of the Gospel, I answer the call of Christ to accompany all in the archdiocese on the journey of faith, so that together we may deepen our love for God and neighbor.”

Archbishop Dennis M. Schnurr has served as the ninth archbishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati since 2009. He was previously Bishop of Duluth from 2001 to 2008. He was ordained a priest of his home diocese of Sioux City in 1974. As required by Canon Law, Archbishop Schnurr submitted his resignation to the Holy Father when he turned 75 on June 21, 2023.

With the announcement of Archbishop-designate Casey’s appointment, Archbishop Schnurr’s resignation has become effective. The Holy Father has appointed Archbishop Schnurr as Apostolic Administrator. As such he will continue to govern the archdiocese until the installation of Archbishop-designate Casey. Archbishop Schnurr offers his support for the new Archbishop of Cincinnati:

“It has been my great honor and privilege to serve the people of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati these past 15 years. Now, on behalf of the people of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, it is a great joy to welcome Archbishop-designate Robert Casey to his new home,” said Archbishop Schnurr. “Archbishop-designate Casey is highly regarded by the people and priests he serves, and I am pleased such a good man will be shepherding the people of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. My intention in retirement is to remain in Cincinnati, and to help in any way our new archbishop deems appropriate. I am confident that he will find the local Church to be very welcoming and dedicated to the evangelization of our communities.”

Archbishop-designate Casey will be installed as the 10th Archbishop of Cincinnati at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Peter in Chains in Cincinnati at a date to be announced. Additional information about the installation liturgy will be forthcoming.

We express our heartfelt gratitude and affection for Archbishop Schnurr and extend our prayers and congratulations to Archbishop-designate Robert G. Casey.

More information can be found at https://catholicaoc.org/archbishop.

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati is the 45^thlargest Catholic diocese in the country, with nearly 440,000 Catholics, and has the fifth largest Catholic school system in terms of enrollment with more than 40,000 students. The 19-county territory includes 199 canonical parishes organized into 57 Families of Parishes, and 108 Catholic primary and secondary schools.

Jennifer Schack

Director of Media Relations

Archdiocese of Cincinnati

Office | 513.263.6618

Cell | 859.512.5626

jschack@CatholicAOC.org

February 3, 2025 by Colin Rahill

Reverend James J. Walsh died on Wednesday, January 29, 2025, in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was born on December 11, 1941 in Cincinnati, and baptized at St. Bonaventure Parish, South Fairmount. He did his preparatory studies at St. Gregory Seminary, Cincinnati and studied philosophy at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary of the West, Norwood. He received an S.T.B. and S.T.L. from Gregorian University, Rome, and a M.Ed. from Loyola University, Chicago. He was ordained on December 20, 1968, by Most Reverend Francis F. Reh at the Basilica of St. Peter, Rome.

Father Walsh received his first assignment on August 19, 1969, as assistant pastor of St. Mary Parish, Middletown and to teach at Fenwick High School. On June 15, 1972, he was appointed to St. Matthew Parish, Norwood and to teach full-time at McNicholas High School, Cincinnati. On June 19, 1974, he was appointed to the Catholic Education Office of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. On August 27, 1974, he was appointed pro-tem associate at St. Ignatius Parish, Cincinnati (until January 1975). On January 30, 1975, he was to remain at the Catholic Education Office and live at St. Margaret Hall, Cincinnati. Father Walsh was appointed Director of the Department of Pastoral Services of the Archdiocese on January 22, 1980. On February 1, 1984, Father Walsh was appointed President/Rector of the Athenaeum of Ohio/Mount St. Mary’s Seminary and remained in the position until December 31, 1990. On July 1, 1991, he was released for service to the Office of RENEW International in New Jersey. In July 1993, he became the Executive Director of the Seminary Department at the National Catholic Education Association (NCEA) in Washington, DC. On October 1, 2000, Father Walsh was appointed pastor of St. Dominic Parish, Cincinnati for a period of six years; he was appointed to three additional six-year terms as pastor of St. Dominic Parish on October 1, 2006, October 1, 2012, and October 1, 2018. In addition to the previous appointments, Father Walsh was appointed Dean of the St. Lawrence Deanery, effective November 29, 2004, for a period of two years and was re-appointed for a second term (2006-2010) and third (2011-2014). He was appointed to the College of Consultors of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati for a term of five years (2005-2010). Father Walsh retired from active ministry on July 1, 2022.

Reception of the Body: Friday, February 7, 2025, at 5:00 p.m. at St. Dominic Church, 4551 Delhi Pike, Cincinnati, Ohio 45238; (513.471.7741) Celebrant and Homilist: Most Reverend Joseph R. Binzer. Visitation: will continue until 8:00 p.m.

Mass of Christian Burial: Saturday, February 8, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. at St. Dominic Church. Celebrant: Reverend Christopher Lack. Homilist: Reverend Gerald R. Haemmerle.

Burial: Saturday, February 8, 2025, following the Mass of Christian Burial, at Saint Joseph New Cemetery, 4500 Foley Road, Cincinnati, Ohio 45238. Celebrant: Reverend Christopher Lack.

February 1, 2025 by Colin Rahill

February 1, 2025

Download PDF Version – English | Download PDF Version – Spanish

Seek the Lord

By Dennis M. Schnurr

We live in a culture which increasingly focuses on individuality and the immediacy of the here and now. Rarely do we elevate our gaze to the transcendent. Modern voices proclaim the self-identifying and self-determining individual as important above all else, rather than reserving that distinction for God. Western society is at risk of losing the rich cultural heritage built on the firm foundation of the Judeo-Christian worldview. We, as Christians, therefore have the opportunity to instill back into our culture those things which reveal the goodness and love of God and the truths which He fashioned into the order of creation.

One means by which we can do this is through the arts. In the first centuries of the Church’s life, her members used art to reveal the mysteries of the faith. In the catacombs of Rome, the first Christians depicted scenes from the Scriptures as reminders of God’s goodness and love. Images of the Good Shepherd, the three young men in the fiery furnace, and acanthus leaves and evergreens reminded the faithful that even death does not have the final word over God’s mercy and the hope of redemption.

Over time, as the faith spread and the arts became more refined, the same truths of salvation would be revealed through sculpture, paintings, stained glass, music and even architecture. Gothic cathedrals, with their soaring walls and vaulted ceilings, draw people up into something beyond everyday life on earth. Even smaller churches and chapels reflect divine beauty when constructed with care and adorned in ways that make present the peace of the eternal homeland toward which we are journeying. Similarly, the harmonies of Palestrina and both the power and delicacy of the pipe organ and other forms of sacred music have the ability to impact the human soul in a unique way, transporting it to a brief foretaste of the angelic choirs of heaven.

When asked at a gathering with priests in northern Italy about the importance of beauty being linked to truth in art, Pope Benedict XVI said, “Christian art is a rational art […] but it is the artistic expression of a greatly expanded reason, in which heart and reason encounter each other. This is the point. I believe that in a certain way this is proof of the truth of Christianity: Heart and reason encounter one another, beauty and truth converge, and the more that we ourselves succeed in living in the beauty of truth, the more that faith will be able to return to being creative in our time too, and to express itself in a convincing form of art.”

Art has the power to remind us of the beauty to which we are called, the beauty from which and for which we were created. Life is beautiful. And it will be even more beautiful when we experience it in its fullness in heaven. In the meantime, though, artists are called by God to make the beauty of His truth tangible in ways which our limited human senses can both understand and appreciate. May God bless all those who embark on this sacred endeavor to, bit by bit, draw out from paint, glass, stone, sound and other media a hint of what awaits us in the world to come!