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Why so many Michigan bishops from Pennsylvania?
archived from: 2009-12-14
by: MARK HANEY

Two now are from Pittsburgh, another from Philadelphia

GAYLORD, Mich. — When Bishop Bernard Hebda was ordained and installed as the Diocese of Gaylord’s fourth bishop Dec. 1, he became the third man from Pennsylvania to become a Michigan bishop in a year.

Bishop Paul Bradley of the Diocese of Kalamazoo, installed in early June, also hails from the Pittsburgh area, and Bishop Robert Cistone of the Diocese of Saginaw, installed in July, is from Philadelphia.

Some of the priests who know Bishop Hebda weighed in on why there seems to be a Pennsylvania pipeline to Michigan.

“I find Pittsburgh filled, by and large, by down-to-earth, humble kind of people,” said Father Rich Jones, administrator of St. Joseph Parish in Coraopolis.

“We have large ethnic communities in all. And I think, like Bishop Zubik, our present bishop, Bernie is good natured. He sees the good in life and lives life to the fullest, and I don’t think geography or position or titles matter much to Bernie. I think that all that matters to Bernie is being a servant, to be gracious and to be grateful, and to be joyful. And I think he carries the charism of joyfulness and it sets the tune for what he does, whether it is dining out or working on text or preparing a homily. I think there is a lot of great joy in his soul.”

Father Joe Grosko, pastor of Holy Trinity Parish in West Mifflin, thinks it is just a matter of time.

“We have some great priests here,” he said. “In many ways I think these appointments are rewards for what these men have done previously. In regard to Bishop Bradley, he took care of our diocese for almost a year and a half after we lost Bishop Wuerl to Washington. Then, in the case of Msgr. Hebda, it is for all of the time and how well he worked in Rome. I think they needed to be rewarded in this life for that.”

Father Robert Hughes, a Philadelphia native, raised in South New Jersey and now pastor of Holy Family Parish in Sewell, N.J., in the Diocese of Camden, thinks it has more to do with Pennsylvania’s traditions.

“I just think there happened to be a lot of vocations from Pennsylvania at that time, that’s one part of it,” he said. “I don’t know that there is anything more to it. In some ways, Pennsylvania’s probably a little more traditional than other parts of the country.”

Reprinted with permission from The Catholic Weekly in Gaylord, Mich.

Haney is executive editor of The Catholic Weekly.

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