Rockford Register Star
October 19, 2011
http://www.rrstar.com/news/x1199435498/Rockford-priest-David-Kagan-named-bishop-in-Bismarck-North-Dakota
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| Monsignor David Kagan speaks during Christmas Day Mass on Saturday, Dec. 25, 2010, at Holy Family Catholic Church in Rockford. |
Pope Benedict XVI has selected the pastor of Holy Family Catholic Church as the new bishop of the Diocese of Bismarck, N.D.
Msgr. David Kagan, 61, succeeds Paul A. Zipfel, 76, who has served as bishop of Bismarck since 1997, according to a news release from the Bismarck Diocese.
“I am humbled by our Holy Father’s appointment, and I need and ask for prayers that I may fulfill this new ministry after the heart of Christ Jesus, the eternal high priest,” Kagan told The Observer, the Catholic newspaper of the Rockford Diocese.
His ordination and installation are scheduled for Nov. 30.
Kagan is the second bishop the pope has selected from Rockford in the past 18 months. Rockford native Timothy Doherty was ordained bishop for the Diocese of Lafayette, Ind., in July 2010.
“It is a great joy and great compliment to the priests of the Diocese of Rockford that twice, in barely over a year and a half, our priests have been chosen to be shepherds of other dioceses,” Rockford Bishop Thomas G. Doran said in a written statement. “Msgr. David Kagan has served this diocese faithfully and fruitfully for all the years of his priesthood and, in my judgment, deserves the honor and responsibility of being the seventh bishop of Bismarck.”
Kagan was born in Waukegan and grew up in Spring Grove. He has a bachelor’s degree in philosophy, bachelor’s and master’s degrees in sacred theology, and a licentiate in canon law, all from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.
Kagan was ordained a priest at the Cathedral of St. Peter in Rockford in 1975. He has served at a number of parishes in the Rockford Diocese and in various positions, including high school religion instructor, teacher of medical ethics at Saint Anthony College of Nursing School and judicial vicar for the Diocesan Tribunal, which evaluates requests for marriage annulments.
Doran could appoint a new pastor for Holy Family by the end of the week, diocesan spokeswoman Penny Wiegert said.
Kagan has about 13 years ahead of him as bishop; a letter of resignation is required when Catholic bishops turn 75.
Doran turned 75 in February. He has submitted his resignation but will remain bishop until the pope selects his replacement.
The new Rockford bishop could be named in the next few months or as late as 2013, Wiegert said.
“We really have no advance warning,” she said. “A year is usually about the least amount of time it takes. Sometimes it can take as long as two years.”
Reach staff writer Greg Stanley at gstanley@rrstar.com or 815-987-1369.
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