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The Feast of the famed Curé of Ars, St. John Vianney, patron of priests, was a fitting day for Cardinal Dolan to ordain three new auxiliary bishops for New York, the first appointed since the cardinal became archbishop of New York in 2009.
Bishop John J. Jenik, 70, Bishop John J. O’Hara, 68, and Bishop Peter J. Byrne, 63, were ordained to the episcopacy at an afternoon Mass Aug. 4 at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Each of the new bishops has at least 30 years of priestly experience and all have served long tenures as pastors.
“‘Lord, you never fail to provide shepherds for your people,’” Cardinal Dolan said in his homily. “Successors to the apostles, and now Jesus calls another Peter, another John and another John,” Cardinal Dolan said. “We rejoice in Peter, John and John….
“My brothers and sisters, Peter, John and John, we are all like “the maiden of Nazareth…those Twelve Apostles…John Vianney…those apostles in that boat, tossed and scared and doubtful and worried and sinking. And now we count anew, upon three of us, a new Peter, John and John, to encourage us, to keep our eyes locked on Jesus and walk on the water toward Him, for as St. John Vianney preached, ‘A life lived in faith and holiness is nothing less than a miraculous walk on the waters.’”
Bishop Jenik has been the pastor of Our Lady of Refuge parish in the Bronx since 1978. Bishop Byrne, the current pastor of St. Elizabeth’s parish in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan, served as pastor of Immaculate Conception parish on Staten Island for nearly two decades before taking over at St. Elizabeth’s last July. Bishop O’Hara was pastor of St. Teresa of the Infant Jesus parish on Staten Island for 12 years and parochial vicar there for eight years prior before being named archdiocesan director of strategic pastoral planning two years ago. In that capacity, he has led the archdiocese’s Making All Things New parish planning initiative.
Cardinal Dolan, the principal celebrant and homilist of the 2 p.m. liturgy, also served as principal consecrator of the new bishops. The archdiocese’s two other active auxiliary bishops, Bishop Gerald T. Walsh, vicar general, and Bishop Dominick J. Lagonegro, episcopal vicar of the northern counties, served as co-consecrators.
The archdiocese’s two retired auxiliary bishops, Bishop Robert A. Brucato and Bishop Josu Iriondo, were among the numerous concelebrants.
Among other concelebrating prelates was Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganó, apostolic nuncio to the United States, who read the papal bull, or apostolic letters from Pope Francis, which called the bishops to episcopal ministry.
A number of native New Yorkers now serving the Church outside the archdiocese also concelebrated. Among them were Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, archbishop emeritus of Washington; Cardinal Edwin O’Brien, grand master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre; Archbishop Charles Balvo, apostolic nuncio to Kenya and South Sudan; Archbishop Charles Brown, apostolic nuncio to Ireland; Archbishop Henry Mansell, archbishop emeritus of Hartford, Conn., and Bishop Dennis Sullivan of Camden, N.J., former vicar general of the archdiocese.
Ecumenical and interreligious leaders were also in attendance.
Early in the rite, the bishops-designate were presented to Cardinal Dolan for ordination to the episcopacy. After Archbishop Viganó read the apostolic letters calling the three to episcopal ministry, all present expressed their assent.
Soon after, the cardinal asked the bishops-designate to declare their resolve to uphold the faith and to discharge their duties with fidelity.
During the Litany of Supplication, as the faithful knelt, the bishops-designate lay prostrate on the sanctuary floor as the names of numerous saints of the Church were sung, invoking their intercession.
During the Laying on of Hands and Prayer of Ordination, the cardinal laid his hands upon the head of each of the bishops-designate and then, one after another, all the bishops did so, signifying the unity of the Apostolic College.
Shortly thereafter, the cardinal prayed the prayer of ordination. Together with the laying on of hands, the prayer made official the ordination of the bishops.
Cardinal Dolan anointed the heads of the newly ordained bishops with holy chrism. Then, taking the Book of the Gospels, the cardinal presented it to each of them, saying, “Receive the Gospel and preach the Word of God with all patience and sound teaching.”
The cardinal then placed a ring on the ring finger of the right hand of each new bishop, saying, “Receive this ring, the seal of fidelity: adorned with undefiled faith, preserve unblemished the bride of God, the holy Church.”
He then placed a miter on the head of the new bishops, saying, “Receive the miter, and may the splendor of holiness shine forth in you, so that when the chief shepherd appears you may deserve to receive from him an unfading crown of glory.”
Lastly, the cardinal gave a pastoral staff, or crosier, to each of the new bishops, saying, “Receive the crosier, the sign of your pastoral office, and keep watch over the whole flock in which the Holy Spirit has placed you as Bishop to govern the Church of God.”
The cardinal then led the newly ordained bishops to their places in the sanctuary, the first place among the concelebrating bishops. The congregation responded reverently, and with thunderous applause.
After Communion, as part of the Concluding Rites, the newly ordained bishops took their miters and crosiers and processed through the cathedral, blessing all present.
Among the many “Bronxites” cheering on Bishop Jenik was Irene Baldwin, 53, a member of St. Gabriel’s parish. She recalled how “fearless” Bishop Jenik has been in advocating for his community.
Ms. Baldwin, now an executive director of a nonprofit committed to the financial empowerment of low-income people, met then-Father Jenik in 1985, “when I came back from the Peace Corps and I got my first grown-up job,” as a community organizer for the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition, working out of Father Jenik’s parish center, Our Lady of Refuge.
“This is the work of the Holy Spirit,” Ms. Baldwin said as she watched her friend be ordained a bishop.
Sister Margaret Mary Fitzgibbon, S.C., a Sister of Charity of St. Elizabeth, the sixth-grade teacher of Bishop O’Hara, smiled with pride from her pew as she eyed her prized pupil in the sanctuary.
“He got the whole message” taught at Our Lady of Mount Carmel School in Ridgewood, N.J.—“love,” Sister Margaret Mary, 81, said after the ceremony. Quoting Scripture, she added, “‘God is love, and those who live in love, live in God, and God lives in them.’ That’s what he’s doing, and to be a bishop is to do it more, spreading more love.”
“I’m so happy,” Sister Margaret Mary said, adding that the night before the bishop’s ordination she got on her knees and prayed to God “that the little bit that I gave” Bishop O’Hara as a student helped bring him “closer to You.”
Among the altar servers from Bishop Byrne’s parish who attended the ordination were two young men, Jean Minaya, 26 and Sandy Alberto, 22.
“He’s a great pastor, he’s a humble man,” Minaya said of his pastor. “It was a great Mass,” he added. “It was a blessing seeing all those priests accompanying the newly ordained bishops, and Cardinal Dolan anointing them with the chrism. …I was like, ‘Wow, this is really happening, right now.’”
Alberto recalled learning about Bishop Byrne’s appointment from a friend’s Facebook posting. “I was so happy,” he said, adding proudly, “that’s my pastor.”
Bishop Byrne is affirming of the altar servers, as both young men can attest. After Mass, “he says, ‘good job,’ with a smile,” Alberto said.
“If we make a mistake, he doesn’t really call us out. He says, ‘Hey, it’s alright.’”
The moment his pastor was ordained a bishop, “I didn’t cry, but I was smiling, I was laughing, I was clapping,” Alberto said. “It was awesome.”
