Nebraska priest serving at Vatican named bishop of Wichita

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Msgr. Michael O. Jackels, a priest of the Diocese of Lincoln, Neb., who has served for the past eight years at the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, has been named bishop of Wichita, Kan.

The appointment was announced Jan. 28 in Washington by Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

Bishop-designate Jackels, a 50-year-old native of Rapid City, S.D., succeeds Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted, who was appointed bishop of Phoenix in November 2003.

His episcopal ordination is scheduled for April 4 at the Church of the Magdalen in Wichita.

"I am certainly honored by the Holy Father's choice and by the confidence that he has placed in me, but also humbled by it," Bishop-designate Jackels said at press conference at the chancery in Wichita.

"I am here, at your service, hoping to be able to carry out this mission in the fine tradition established by my predecessors, especially the most recent ones, Bishop Olmsted and Bishop Gerber," he added. Bishop Eugene J. Gerber, installed to head the diocese in February 1983, retired in 2001.

Bishop-designate Jackels also thanked Msgr. Robert E. Hemberger for his service to the diocese as administrator while it was without a bishop.

Michael Owen Jackels (pronounced Jake-els) was born on April 13, 1954, the third of six children. He studied at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1972-74. He entered St. Pius X Seminary in Erlanger, Ky., in 1974 and graduated with a bachelor's degree in philosophy in 1977.

He began theological studies at Mount St. Mary's Seminary in Emmitsburg, Md., in 1977. He finished his studies in 1981, earning a master of arts degree in Scripture. He was ordained a priest by then-Bishop Glennon P. Flavin on May 30, 1981, in the Cathedral of the Risen Christ in Lincoln.

After ordination he was assistant pastor at the cathedral and at the Newman Center on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln campus. He also was assistant diocesan director of vocations, in charge of the diocese's Spanish-speaking apostolate, and a religion teacher at Pius X High School.

In 1985, Bishop-designate Jackels went to Angelicum University in Rome, where he received a doctorate in sacred theology in 1989.

He returned to the Lincoln Diocese in 1989 and held a variety of posts at the same time -- diocesan director of religious education, master of ceremonies and chair of the diocesan Commission for Sacred Liturgy and Sacred Music.

In 1992, while retaining his other positions, he also became chaplain of the School Sisters of Christ the King and, in 1994, co-vicar for religious. A year later he was named a monsignor by the pope. In 1997 he went to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

In Wichita, the new bishop noted at the press conference that his various ministerial roles over the years make him "feel comfortable eating bunuelos after a posada or sticky rice after a (Vietnamese) Tet celebration; working with liturgical ministers to prepare for devout worship of God or with catechists to prepare an effective lesson, or even teaching students in a classroom; doing administrative work, organizing individuals in a group effort and encouraging others to serve."

Lincoln Bishop Fabian W. Bruskewitz said the priests, religious and laity of his diocese greeted "with joy" the news that one of their own was named a bishop.

"I congratulate the Catholic people of Wichita on this occasion and assure them that God's providence and the Holy Father have provided them with a worthy shepherd, a genuine scholar with a pastoral soul and a learned and holy priest," Bishop Bruskewitz said in a statement.

"We shall miss him greatly in southern Nebraska," he added. "Our prayers and good wishes accompany him in his life and ministry in Kansas."

Bishop-designate Jackels is the third priest of the Lincoln Diocese to be named a bishop in recent years. The first was Bishop Olmsted, named Wichita's coadjutor bishop in February 1999; he became head of the diocese two years later. In November 1999, then-Msgr. Robert F. Vasa was named bishop of Baker, Ore.

In introducing Bishop-designate Jackels, Msgr. Hemberger said, "Kansas is a place of big vistas and creative people. Kansans export to the entire world our agricultural products, our aircraft and manufactured goods, even our children. Today we receive a new bishop who brings us a sense of the worldwide Catholic Church."

"We pray for him. We pray also for ourselves that we may receive our new bishop with open minds and generous hearts," the priest added. "I think our next bishop will find in the Diocese of Wichita faithful, hopeful, loving stewards of the Gospel."

The Diocese of Wichita was established in 1887. It covers 20,021 square miles and includes the 25 counties in the southeast corner of Kansas. It has 91 parishes, 32 elementary schools, four high schools and a Catholic population of 116, 000.