Archdiocese gets a second auxiliary bishop, by Tom Heinen, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, October 30, 2007

Archdiocese gets a second auxiliary bishop

By Tom Heinen
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
October 30, 2007

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=680737

Pope Benedict XVI named Father William P. Callahan, a Conventual Franciscan and former pastor of the Basilica of St. Josaphat on the city's south side, as an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee on Tuesday.

Callahan, 57, is the spiritual director at the Pontifical North American College in Rome, the elite seminary where Milwaukee Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan formerly served as rector. Born in Chicago, Callahan has been a priest since 1977.

When Callahan is ordained a bishop here on Dec. 21, the archdiocese will have two auxiliary bishops for the first time since the late Auxiliary Bishop Leo G. Brust, who retired in 1991 and died four years later. Dolan said that the late Pope John Paul II gave Dolan the go-ahead to apply for a second auxiliary bishop, noting that the size of the 10-county archdiocese and its about 680,000 Catholics warranted one.

Auxiliary Bishop Named

Archbishop Timothy Dolan (left) welcomes Father William Callahan on Tuesday at St. Francis Seminary after the pope named Callahan auxiliary bishop of Milwaukee. Callahan will be ordained as a bishop on Dec. 21.
Photo by Gary Porter

Callahan talks with Vicki Thorn, who began Project Rachel, a Catholic group that helps women who have had abortions, at St. Francis Seminary on Tuesday. Callahan is former pastor of the Basilica of St. Josaphat.
Photo by Gary Porter

Callahan's installation will give Dolan and Auxiliary Bishop Richard J. Sklba a fellow bishop who has local pastoral experience and a reputation for both fund-raising and administrative skills. Much of the fund raising and work on a multimillion-dollar renovation of St. Josaphat basilica and the construction of its visitors center took place under his leadership as pastor.

Dolan said in an interview Tuesday, moments before a news conference at St. Francis Seminary, that, among other things, he hopes Callahan eventually will serve as a kind of chief financial officer, easing some of the other two bishops' administrative duties. What form that might take, however, will depend upon the results of strategic planning that is under way to reassess the entire administrative structure of the archdiocese and to find ways to run it more effectively, Dolan said later with Callahan standing at this side.

Callahan said he experienced an overwhelming emotion after a cardinal in the Vatican told him this month that the pope wanted him to serve as an auxiliary bishop in Milwaukee and needed to know if he would accept the appointment. Exhibiting a touch of Dolan's Irish humor, Callahan added, "So, at that point I felt like Ralph Kramden (Jackie Gleason's character on "The Honeymooners" TV series), kind of 'Hamma, hamma, hamma.' But I knew exactly what was in my heart and what I needed to say, and that was, 'Yes.' And so, service to the church is exactly what it's all about."

Dolan said that Callahan will participate in teaching, governance and sanctification, including performing confirmations and being at parish Masses on weekends. "He's got a great reputation as a good administrator, as very sound in preaching the values of stewardship, and he did a bang-up job at the basilica," Dolan said.

Callahan will face some challenging transitions as the archdiocese continues efforts to sell the Cousins Center and its approximately 44-acre site in St. Francis, where the central offices and some other ministries are based. That is being done both to help pay for a multimillion-dollar settlement of clergy abuse lawsuits and to get quarters that are more cost-efficient than the underutilized, aging center.

The archdiocese also is launching a $105 million capital campaign this fall, by far the largest in its history, as Dolan seeks to establish a stronger tradition of stewardship and inspire the area's Catholics with a challenging new vision.

The archbishop has said that the funds raised will be used solely for the purposes stated in the campaign and protected from sexual abuse-related costs by placement in a charitable trust outside the assets of the archdiocese.

Dolan, who is in his sixth year as archbishop here, noted that Callahan was no stranger. While serving as pastor of the basilica parish from 1994 to 2005, Callahan had regular contact with Dolan by serving on the archdiocesan priests council and as a member of the college of consultors, a group that advises Dolan.

The only time there were two active auxiliary bishops here was after Sklba, a Racine native, was ordained a bishop in late 1979, said Father Joseph Baran, a retired diocesan priest who follows episcopal appointments. Sklba turned 72 last month and is three years away from the normal retirement age of 75 for bishops.

"I am personally grateful for the administrative gifts that bishop-elect Callahan will bring to us," Sklba said. "He'll be a great help in keeping things on target and moving here at the Cousins Center, the archdiocesan offices."