Joseph A. Williams

Last updated
His Excellency, The Most Reverend

Joseph A. Williams
Coadjutor Bishop of Camden
Diocese Camden
AppointedMay 21, 2024
Orders
OrdinationMay 28, 2002
by  Harry Joseph Flynn
ConsecrationJanuary 25, 2022
by  Bernard Hebda, Richard Pates, Andrew H. Cozzens
Personal details
Born (1974-05-02) May 2, 1974 (age 50)
Minneapolis, Minnesota, US
Previous post(s)
MottoMisericordiam volo
(I want mercy)
Styles of
Joseph Andrew Williams
Coat of arms of Joseph Andrew Williams.svg
Reference style
Spoken style Your Excellency
Religious style Bishop

Joseph Andrew Williams (born May 2, 1974) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who has been serving as an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis in Minnesota since 2021. Pope Francis appointed Williams as Coadjutor Bishop of Camden on May 21, 2024.

Contents

Biography

Early life

Joseph Williams was born on May 2, 1974, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He has eight siblings, one of whom, Paul Williams, is a priest in the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. Joseph Williams attended Saint Croix Catholic School in Stillwater, Minnesota, and graduated from Stillwater High School in 1992. [1]

Williams studied at the University of Minnesota Morris (UMN–Morris) where he was a varsity tennis player and twice competed in the NCAA Division III men's tennis championships. He graduated from UMN–Morris with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1996. [2]

Williams continued his studies at the Franciscan University of Steubenville in Steubenville, Ohio. While there, he decided to become a priest. He received a philosophy/pre-theology degree from the university in 1998 and then entered the Saint Paul Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota, where he was awarded a Master of Divinity degree in 2002. [1]

Priesthood

Williams was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis by Archbishop Harry Flynn on May 28, 2002, at the Cathedral of Saint Paul in St. Paul, Minnesota. [3] The archdiocese assigned Williams as parochial vicar at the Cathedral of Saint Paul from 2002 to 2004 and Divine Mercy in Faribault from 2004 to 2005. [2] In 2005, Williams was appointed pastor of Saint Mathias Parish in Hampton, Minnesota, and Saint Mary parish in New Trier, Minnesota. He left both parishes in 2008 to become pastor of Saint Stephen Parish in Minneapolis.

When Williams was appointed as pastor of Saint Stephen's, the parish was largely failing to follow the rubrics of the Mass of the Second Vatican Council and did not submit to the teachings of the Catholic Church. [4] Williams' efforts to bring the parish in line with Catholic teaching resulted in many of the older parishioners walking out in the middle of Mass and leaving the parish entirely. [5] His first Christmas Mass at the parish had no worshippers. [6] Williams eventually rebuilt the parish into a thriving Latino community, the largest in Minnesota, with over 1,600 families. [7] [8]

Archbishop Bernard Hebda in 2018 named Williams as the vicar for the Latino ministry. [2]

During the 2020 George Floyd protests in Minneapolis, Williams responded to a cry for help in the middle of the night from a parishioner family whose apartment building was in danger of burning down. He drove to the apartment and welcomed them into the parish rectory for safety. [9]

Auxiliary Bishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis

Pope Francis appointed Williams as an auxiliary bishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis on December 10, 2021. [2] [1] [10] On January 25, 2022, Williams was consecrated as bishop by Archbishop Bernard Hebda at the Cathedral of Saint Paul, with Bishops Richard Pates and Andrew H. Cozzens acting as co-consecrators. [3] During his time as auxiliary bishop, Williams led initiatives for Latino ministry and implementation of the 2022 Archdiocesan synod.

Coadjutor of Camden

Pope Francis named Williams as Coadjutor Bishop of Camden on May 21, 2024. [11] [12] His Mass of Welcome is scheduled for late summer 2024. [13]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit</span> Latin Catholic ecclesiastical jurisdiction in Michigan, USA

The Archdiocese of Detroit is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church covering the Michigan counties of Lapeer, Macomb, Monroe, Oakland, St. Clair, and Wayne. It is the metropolitan archdiocese of the Ecclesiastical Province of Detroit, which includes all dioceses in the state of Michigan. In addition, in 2000 the archdiocese accepted pastoral responsibility for the Catholic Church in the Cayman Islands, which consists of Saint Ignatius Parish on Grand Cayman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harry Joseph Flynn</span> American Roman Catholic archbishop (1933–2019)

Harry Joseph Flynn was an American prelate of the Catholic Church who served as archbishop of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis from 1995 to 2008. He previously served as bishop of the Diocese of Lafayette from 1989 to 1994.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis</span> Archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Minnesota, United States

The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or diocese of the Catholic Church in the United States. It is led by an archbishop who administers the archdiocese from the cities of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. The archbishop has both a cathedral and co-cathedral: the mother church – the Cathedral of Saint Paul in Saint Paul, and the co-cathedral, the Basilica of Saint Mary in Minneapolis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Catholic Diocese of Winona–Rochester</span> Ecclesiastical territory of the Catholic Church in southern Minnesota, United States

The Diocese of Winona–Rochester is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in Southern Minnesota in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark</span> Catholic archdiocese in the United States

The Archdiocese of Newark is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction, or archdiocese, of the Catholic Church in northeastern New Jersey in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Pates</span> American prelate of the Catholic Church (born 1943)

Richard Edmund Pates is an American Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Des Moines from 2008 to 2019 and as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis from 2000 to 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Catholic Diocese of Cleveland</span> Latin Catholic ecclesiastical jurisdiction in Ohio, USA

The Diocese of Cleveland is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in northeastern Ohio in the United States. As of September 2020, the bishop is Edward Malesic. The Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist, located in Cleveland, is the mother church of the diocese.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Catholic Diocese of Camden</span> Latin Catholic ecclesiastical jurisdiction in New Jersey, USA

The Diocese of Camden s is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It consists of 62 parishes and about 475,000 Catholics in the South Jersey counties of Atlantic, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, and Salem.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert James Carlson</span> 20th and 21st-century American Catholic bishop

Robert James Carlson is an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as the ninth archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis in Missouri from 2009 to 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Clayton Nienstedt</span> American Catholic prelate (born 1947)

John Clayton Nienstedt is an American retired prelate of the Catholic Church who served as Archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis from 2008 until his resignation in 2015 due to his role in the clergy child sex abuse crisis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Francis Kinney</span> American Roman Catholic prelate (1937–2019)

John Francis Kinney was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the ninth bishop of the Diocese of St. Cloud in Minnesota from 1995 to 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christopher J. Coyne</span> Roman Catholic bishop in the United States

Christopher James Coyne is an American Catholic prelate who has served as Metropolitan Archbishop of Hartford since May 2024. He had been coadjutor archbishop since June 2023. He has also served as administrator of the Diocese of Burlington since June 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lee A. Piché</span> Roman Catholic bishop (born 1958)

Lee Anthony Piché is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis in Minnesota beginning in 2009, retired from public ministry in 2015, and returned to public ministry in 2023 as vicar for retired priests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bernard Hebda</span> American Roman Catholic priest and archbishop

Bernard Anthony Hebda is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who has served as the twelfth archbishop of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis in Minnesota since March 24, 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul D. Etienne</span> American prelate

Paul Dennis Étienne is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who has been serving as archbishop of the Archdiocese of Seattle in Washington State since 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeffrey M. Monforton</span> Roman Catholic Bishop

Jeffrey Marc Monforton is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He was the bishop of the Diocese of Steubenville in Ohio from 2012 to 2023 and is now an auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of Detroit in Michigan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donald DeGrood</span> American prelate of the Catholic Church

Donald Edward DeGrood is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who has been serving as bishop of the Diocese of Sioux Falls in South Dakota since 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gregory Gordon (bishop)</span> American prelate

Gregory William Gordon is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who has been serving as the first auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Las Vegas in Nevada since 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Izen</span> Roman catholic bishop

Michael John Izen is an American bishop of the Roman Catholic Church who has been serving as an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis in Minnesota since 2023.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Pope Francis Names Rev. Joseph Williams Auxiliary Bishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis". Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. Retrieved December 10, 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Pope Francis Names New Auxiliary Bishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis". US Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved December 10, 2021.
  3. 1 2 "Bishop Joseph Andrew Williams [Catholic-Hierarchy]". www.catholic-hierarchy.org. Retrieved 2024-03-25.
  4. ↑ Coleman, Nick (March 1, 2008). "The push for conformity shoves away parishioners". Star Tribune. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
  5. ↑ Bayly, Michael J. (15 February 2009). "The Wild Reed: A Catholic "Crisis and Opportunity" in South Minneapolis". The Wild Reed.
  6. ↑ Hrbacek, Dave (26 March 2013). "Word on the streets". TheCatholicSpirit.com. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
  7. ↑ French, Rose (March 31, 2013). "Latinos give Minneapolis Catholic church new life". Star Tribune. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
  8. ↑ Sotro, Melina. "Evangelization, Formation, Invitation". Newsroom | University of St. Thomas.
  9. ↑ Umberger, Barb (January 21, 2022). "In 2020, Bishop-elect Williams rescued parishioners from riots". TheCatholicSpirit.com.
  10. ↑ Omastiak, Rebecca. "Pope Francis names new auxiliary bishop of Minneapolis, St. Paul". KSTP.com. Archived from the original on December 10, 2021. Retrieved December 10, 2021.
  11. ↑ "Pope Francis Appoints Bishop Joseph Williams as Coadjutor Bishop of Camden | USCCB". www.usccb.org. Retrieved 2024-05-21.
  12. ↑ "Resignations and Appointments, 21.05.2024" . Retrieved May 21, 2024.
  13. ↑ "Bishop Williams named coadjutor bishop of Camden, New Jersey" . Retrieved May 21, 2024.
Catholic Church titles
Preceded by
-
 Coadjutor Bishop of Camden
2024-present		Succeeded by
-
Preceded by
-
 Auxiliary Bishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis
2022-2024		Succeeded by
-
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.