Edward Weisenburger

Last updated
His Excellency, The Most Reverend

Edward Joseph Weisenburger
Bishop of Tucson
Church Roman Catholic Church
Diocese Tucson
AppointedOctober 3, 2017
InstalledNovember 29, 2017
Predecessor Gerald Frederick Kicanas
Previous post(s)
Orders
OrdinationDecember 19, 1987
ConsecrationMay 1, 2012
by  Joseph Naumann, Eusebius J. Beltran, and Paul Stagg Coakley
Personal details
Born (1960-12-23) December 23, 1960 (age 63)
Alton, Illinois, US
MottoEcce agnus Dei
(Behold the lamb of God)
Styles of
Edward Joseph Weisenburger
Coat of arms of Edward Joseph Weisenburger (Tucson).svg
Reference style
Spoken style Your Excellency
Religious style Bishop

Edward Joseph Weisenburger is an American Catholic prelate who has served as Bishop of Tucson since 2017. He previously served as Bishop of Salina from 2012 to 2017.

Contents

Biography

Early life and education

Edward Weisenburger was born in Alton, Illinois, on December 23, 1960, to Edward John Weisenburger and Asella (Walters) Weisenburger. Weisenburger grew up primarily in Lawton, Oklahoma, where he attended St. Barbara's Parish School. He graduated from Eisenhower High School in Lawton in 1979. [1]

Deciding to enter the priesthood, Weisenburger began his studies at Conception Seminary College in Conception, Missouri, graduating there with honors in 1983. [1] He then traveled to Leuven, Belgium, to attend the American College Seminary at the Catholic University of Leuven. He was awarded a Pontifical Bachelor of Theology degree along with a Master of Religious Studies degree in 1986. Weisenburger received a Master of Arts in Religious Studies and a Master of Moral and Religious Sciences degree in Leuven in 1987. [1]

Priesthood

On December 19, 1987, Weisenburger was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City in the Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Oklahoma City by Archbishop Charles Salatka. [2] After his ordination, the archdiocese assigned Weisenburger to pastoral duties at St. Mary Parish in Ponca City, Oklahoma.

In 1990, Weisenburger was sent to Ottawa, Ontario, to attend St. Paul University, where he was awarded a Licentiate of Canon Law degree in 1992. [1] [3] After returning to Oklahoma, Weisenburger was appointed as vice chancellor and adjutant judicial vicar for the archdiocese. [3]

Weisenburger was appointed pastor of Holy Trinity Parish in Okarche, Oklahoma, in 1995. That same year, he began 17 years of service on the council of priests and the archdiocesan college of consultors. After the Oklahoma City bombing on April 19, 1995, Weisenburger volunteered as an on-site chaplain for rescue workers. In 1996, Archbishop Eusebius J. Beltran named Weisenburger as vicar general of the archdiocese. [3]

In 2002, after seven years at Holy Trinity, Weisenburger was appointed pastor and then rector of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish. [1] [3] He was also promoter of justice for the canonization of Reverend Stanley Rother, an Oklahoma priest murdered in 1981 by a death squad in Guatemala. On October 2, 2009, Weisenburger was appointed a prelate of honor to Pope Benedict XVI with the title monsignor. [4] [1]

Bishop of Salina

Coat of arms as bishop of Salina Coat of arms of Edward Joseph Weisenburger.svg
Coat of arms as bishop of Salina

Weisenburger was appointed bishop of Salina by Benedict XVI on February 6, 2012. He was consecrated by Archbishop Joseph Naumann on May 1, 2012, in the Sacred Heart Cathedral in Salina, with Beltran and Archbishop Paul Coakley acting as co-consecrators. [5]

Bishop of Tucson

On October 3, 2017, Weisenburger was named the seventh bishop of Tucson by Pope Francis. He was installed on November 29, 2017. [6] [2]

On September 19, 2018, Weisenburger reported that the diocese had fired ten employees over the past ten years due to charges of sexual misconduct. He did not provide any details on the firings. Commenting on the August 2018 Pennsylvania grand jury report of sexual abuse by priests in that state, Weisenburger linked the so-called sexual revolution of the 1960s to these crimes:

“It would be way too simplistic to blame a cultural movement for what individuals have done, but I also think it would be irresponsible to not acknowledge its role.” [7]

In December 2020, the Diocese of Tucson, along with the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, were named in a federal racketeering lawsuit by two individuals alleging sexual abuse as minors by four priests in Arizona. One of the plaintiffs was Diana Almader-Douglas, who said that she was abused when she was five years old by Reverend Charles Knapp at her home in Pirtleville, Arizona, in the 1970s. Weisenburger said the diocese immediately notified police of the allegation, which they declined to investigate. An outside investigation was unable to determine if the allegations were credible. A third individual joined the lawsuit in 2021. [8]

Viewpoints

Immigration

At a meeting of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops on June 15, 2018, Weisenburger suggested that Catholic federal agents who separate children from undocumented immigrant parents as part of Trump Administration policy should be denied communion. [9]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles</span> Archdiocese in California

The Archdiocese of Los Angeles is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. The archdiocese's cathedra is in Los Angeles, and the archdiocese comprises the California counties of Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and Ventura. The cathedral is the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles, and its present archbishop is José Horacio Gómez Velasco. With over five million professing members and weekly liturgies celebrated in 32 languages, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles is numerically the single largest and most ethnically diverse archdiocese in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson</span> Diocese of the Catholic Church

The Diocese of Tucson is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory – or diocese – of the Roman Catholic Church in southern Arizona in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese of the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Santa Fe.

<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 Oklahoma City</span> Latin Catholic ecclesiastical jurisdiction in Oklahoma, USA

The Archdiocese of Oklahoma City is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church of western Oklahoma in the United States. The mother church of the archdiocese is the Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Oklahoma City.

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

The Archdiocese of Omaha is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in northeastern Nebraska in the United States. Its current archbishop, George Joseph Lucas, was installed in Omaha on July 22, 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas</span> Roman Catholic archdiocese in Kansas, USA

The Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas is a Latin Church ecclesiastical province, or archdiocese, of the Catholic Church in eastern Kansas in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Catholic Diocese of Salina</span> Diocese of the Catholic Church in Kansas, U.S.

The Diocese of Salina is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in northern Kansas in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Catholic Diocese of Wichita</span> Diocese of the Catholic Church

The Diocese of Wichita is a Latin Catholic ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in Kansas in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Catholic Diocese of Tulsa</span> Latin Catholic ecclesiastical jurisdiction in Oklahoma, US

The Diocese of Tulsa also called the Diocese of Tulsa and Eastern Oklahoma is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in the eastern part of Oklahoma in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Oklahoma City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William E. Lori</span> American Catholic bishop

William Edward Lori is an American prelate of the Catholic Church who has served as the 16th archbishop of the Archdiocese of Baltimore in Maryland since 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eusebius J. Beltran</span> American prelate

Eusebius Joseph Beltran is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as archbishop of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City in Oklahoma from 1993 until 2010. He previously served as bishop of the Diocese of Tulsa in Oklahoma from 1978 to 1992.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gerald Andrew Gettelfinger</span> American prelate

Gerald Andrew Gettelfinger is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as the bishop of the Diocese of Evansville in Indiana from 1989 to 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Gerard Noonan</span> American bishop (born 1951)

John Gerard Noonan is an Irish-born American prelate in the Roman Catholic Church. He has been serving as bishop of the Diocese of Orlando in Florida since 2010. Noonan previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Miami in Florida from 2005 to 2010.

René Henry Gracida is an American Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Corpus Christi from 1983 to 1997. He previously served as Bishop of Pensacola-Tallahassee (1975–1983) and as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Miami (1971–1975).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gerald Frederick Kicanas</span> American Catholic bishop

Gerald Frederick Kicanas is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Tucson in Arizona from 2002 to 2017. He served as the apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Las Cruces in New Mexico from September 2018 to July 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Stagg Coakley</span> Prelate of the Roman Catholic Church

Paul Stagg Coakley is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He has been serving as archbishop of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City since 2010

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dale Joseph Melczek</span> American Catholic bishop (1938–2022)

Dale Joseph Melczek was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Detroit in Michigan from 1982 to 1992 and as bishop of the Diocese of Gary in Indiana from 1996 until 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe S. Vásquez</span> Current Catholic Bishop of Austin

Joe Steve Vásquez is a prelate of the Roman Catholic Church, serving as the bishop of the Diocese of Austin in Texas since 2010. Additionally, he serves as apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Tyler, Texas since November 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward M. Grosz</span>

Edward Michael Grosz, is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Buffalo in New York from 1990 to 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">J. Mark Spalding</span>

Joseph Mark Spalding, D.D., J.C.L. is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He has been serving as bishop of the Diocese of Nashville in Tennessee since 2017.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "About the Bishop". Diocese of Tucson. Retrieved 2022-01-13.
  2. 1 2 "Bishop Edward Joseph Weisenburger [Catholic-Hierarchy]". www.catholic-hierarchy.org. Retrieved 2022-01-13.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Pope Appoints Oklahoma City Vicar General Bishop Of Salina". US Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved 2024-04-09.
  4. ↑ "Biography / Curriculum Vitae of Bishop Weisenburger," online at "Biography / Curriculum Vitae - Catholic Diocese of Salina". Archived from the original on 2009-06-23. Retrieved 2009-05-10..
  5. ↑ Gordon J. Fielder, Jr., "New Catholic Diocese bishop ordained," The Salina Journal, May 2, 2012, online at ; "Biography / Curriculum Vitae of Bishop Weisenburger," online at "Biography / Curriculum Vitae - Catholic Diocese of Salina". Archived from the original on 2009-06-23. Retrieved 2009-05-10..
  6. ↑ Vatican Information Service, "Daily Bulletin of 3.10.2017," online at "Resignations and Appointments" . Retrieved 2017-10-03..
  7. ↑ "Bishop: Tucson Diocese has fired 10 over sexual misconduct". AP News. September 19, 2018. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  8. ↑ Jensen, Audrey. "Lawsuit accuses Tucson priests of sexually abusing minors decades ago in southern Arizona". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved 2022-01-13.
  9. ↑ Innes, Stephanie. "Tucson bishop: Should Catholics face "canonical penalties" for role in separating immigrant children?". Arizona Daily Star. Retrieved 2022-01-13.

Episcopal succession

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by Bishop of Tucson
2017–present		Succeeded by
Incumbent
Preceded by Bishop of Salina
2012–2017		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.