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Honoring Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI
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Bishop Walker Nickless of the Diocese of Sioux City is honoring Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI on the occasion of his death earlier this morning in Vatican City. The retired pope’s funeral will be Jan. 5.
“I feel very close to Pope Emeritus Benedict as he named me as Bishop of the Diocese of Sioux City during his time as pope,” Bishop Nickless said. “He has always served as an inspiration to me in his great intelligence and gentleness. All of us have been enriched by his papacy and his deep love of the church. Please join me in prayer and honoring our former Holy Father.”
Then Pope Benedict XVI named then Msgr. Walker Nickless as shepherd of the Diocese of Sioux City in October 2005 and he was ordained as bishop on Jan. 20, 2006 in Sioux City.
Parishes and Catholic schools throughout the diocese will pray for the deceased pope, display portraits of the pope emeritus with black bunting and ring church bells at the request of Bishop Nickless. Also, parishes are to celebrate a Mass for the Dead on Jan. 5, the day of Pope Emeritus Benedict’s funeral Mass.
The diocese will observe nine days of morning following the funeral (Jan. 6 to Jan. 14). During this period, Masses may be celebrated, praying the Liturgy of the Hours including the Office of the Dead, eucharistic adoration and prayers.
“I echo the sentiment of Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in his appreciation and respect for the intellectual and spiritual gifts our pope emeritus gave to the church during his many years of ministry,” noted the bishop.
“The church gives thanks for the treasured ministry of Pope Benedict XVI. A superb theologian who lent his talents as a peritus at the Second Vatican Council, he continued throughout his long life to be an effective teacher of the faith. As a priest, university professor and theologian, archbishop, and cardinal, his voice in deepening an authentic understanding led all of us to a more profound love of truth and the mystery of God. It will take many years for us to delve more deeply into the wealth of learning that he has left us,” the archbishop said in a USCCB statement. “Generations will continue to be enriched by his books, discourses, and homilies. They all reveal a depth of learning and reflection that is essential both in our time and in the future.”
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Statement on Education Savings Accounts -
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Decree promligating a policy for Scheduling masses
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FOR assistance
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reneedscdiocese.orgAssistant to Bishop Nickless
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Bishop R. Walker Nickless was named the 7th Bishop in the 108-year history of the Diocese of Sioux City on November 10, 2005. His selection as Bishop was one of the first appointments made by Pope Benedict XVI, following the death of Pope John Paul II.
Bishop Nickless was born in Denver, Colorado, one of ten children born to R. Walker Nickless and E. Margaret McGovern Nickless. He has four brothers and five sisters. His mother died in early 2006, shortly after her son’s ordination as Bishop.
Bishop Nickless was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Denver on August 4, 1973. Before his appointment as Bishop, then Monsignor Nickless served as pastor of Our Lady of Fatima parish in Lakewood, Colorado and as Vicar General of the Archdiocese. He was nominated as Prelate of Honor (Monsignor) by Pope John Paul II in 1996. Bishop Nickless graduated from Bishop Machebeuf High School in 1965. He attended St. Thomas Seminary in Denver, the University of Denver and the Gregorian University in Rome.
When he received notice of the appointment in a phone call from Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo, the Papal Nuncio in Washington, that Pope Benedict XVI had appointed him to be the Bishop for the Diocese of Sioux City, then Monsignor Nickless said he was surprised but very excited. “In addition to the immediate sensation of unworthiness, I consider it a great honor to come to serve the people of the Diocese of Sioux City,” said Bishop Nickless. “I want to be a good pastor, a good father, and a good Shepherd and intend to work very closely with the priests of the Diocese to do the work of the Lord.”
Nickless was formally installed and ordained as Bishop on January 20, 2006 in a ceremony at the Church of the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ in Sioux City. Archbishop Jerome Hanus of the Archdiocese of Dubuque was the principal consecrator as the Dubuque Archdiocese is the metropolitan diocese for the state. The co-consecrators were Archbishop Charles Joseph Chaput of Denver and Bishop Thomas Tobin of Providence, Rhode Island. Under the guidance of Bishop Nickless, a Strategic Planning Task Force was established in 2007. The bishop endorsed a five-year long range plan for the reorganization of parishes in October 2009. Later that month, Bishop Nickless distributed his first pastoral letter, Ecclesia Semper Reformanda (The Church is Always in Need of Renewal), throughout the diocese.
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