Vatican Names Samuel J. Aquila Catholic Archbishop in Denver
By Electa Draper
The Vatican this morning named Fargo, N.D., Bishop Samuel J. Aquila as the fifth archbishop of the Denver Archdiocese. For Aquila, a conservative bishop cut from the same cloth as his predecessor here, Charles Chaput, it's a homecoming. Although the 61-year-old Aquila is a native of Burbank, Calif., he was ordained a priest here in 1976 and served in local parish ministry for 11 years. Aquila held several positions in the Denver Archdiocese in education and liturgy until 1999, when he became the founding rector of St. John Vianney Seminary. Aquila next served in Fargo, where he became bishop on March 18, 2002, upon Bishop James Sullivan's retirement. Aquila also provided oversight of the Diocese of Sioux Falls in 2005, until the consecration of a new bishop there. The pope's U.S. representative, nuncio Archbishop Carlo Vigano, made the announcement at 4 a.m. Aquila will be installed as the new archbishop July 18 at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. He is scheduled to appear at a 10 a.m. press conference in the Cardinal Stafford Library in the John Paul II Pastoral Center. Aquila will lead Mass at 5:30 p.m. in the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception. "Many of you know Archbishop Aquila well and have served with him in ministry for years," Denver Bishop James D. Conley wrote in an early-morning email to priests here. Conley has been apostolic administrator since Chaput departed for Philadelphia in September 2011. "I hope you will join me in welcoming Archbishop Aquila as he returns home." Aquila won praise from Pope Benedict XVI in March for changing the order in which his diocese's children receive the sacraments. In the last seven years, children in the 90,000-member Fargo Diocese receive confirmation at a younger age, and before Holy Communion. Aquila said the order emphasizes that the Eucharist "completes the sacraments of initiation." Aquila has been no stranger to controversy. He was one of the harshest critics of University of Notre Dame after its president, Rev. John Jenkins, invited President Barack Obama to give the 2009 commencement address. Aquila, according to Catholic media, released one of the strongest letters of the many Jenkins received in protest of the president's appearance at Notre Dame. "Even though President Obama is not Catholic, he clearly rejects the truth about human dignity through his constant support of a so-called 'right to abortion.' He also tolerates the inexcusable act of letting aborted children die who are born alive. He promotes an intrinsic evil which must always be resisted by a just and civil society," Aquila wrote to Jenkins. "Your actions and that of the Board of Trustees of Notre Dame do real harm to the mission of Catholic education in this country and further splinters Catholic witness in the public square." In agreeing with Chaput that the proper role of government in solving the national health-care crisis is not necessarily "a national public plan," such as Obama's, Aquila spoke of the danger of thinking "the national government is sole instrument of the common good." Aquila, because of his history in Denver, has been one of the names most mentioned as a likely successor to Chaput since the pope named him archbishop of Philadelphia in June 2011. Aquila has long evidenced his strong ties to Colorado. He chose for his coat of arms the inclusion of three gold hills, emblematic of Colorado's Rocky Mountains, beneath an eagle, symbolic of St. John, patron of the Denver seminary. The eagle also references his family heritage — "aquila" is the Italian word for eagle. Contact: edraper@denverpost.com
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