By David Wilhelm
Messenger Editor
Pope Francis on Monday appointed Diocese of Belleville Bishop Michael McGovern as the sixth Archbishop of Omaha, Neb.
Bishop McGovern will be installed at the Cathedral of St. Cecilia on May 7. The Archdiocese of Omaha includes more than 230,000 Catholics in 23 counties in northeast Nebraska.
“I accept (Pope Francis’) nomination with gratitude and humility and thank him for the confidence he has placed in me,” Bishop McGovern said. “I deeply appreciate Pope Francis and his ministry as the Successor of St. Peter and renew my pledge of obedience and respect to him. Please join me in asking God to bless our Holy Father and restore his health in the coming weeks.”
Bishop McGovern’s appointment came after Pope Francis accepted the resignation, due to age, of Archbishop George Lucas, 75. Archbishop Lucas was ordained a priest in St. Louis in 1975 appointed bishop of Springfield, Ill., in 1999. He has been the archbishop in Omaha since 2009.
The appointment of Bishop McGovern was announced by the Vatican in Rome and by the Apostolic Nuncio, Cardinal Christophe Pierre, in Washington, D.C.
Bishop McGovern, 60, a native of Chicago, was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Chicago in 1994. He served in several parishes and in administrative roles before being appointed by Pope Francis as Bishop of Belleville on April 3, 2020. He was consecrated a bishop on July 22 of that year by Cardinal Blase Cupich in the Cathedral of St. Peter.
“I am very grateful to the clergy and people of southern Illinois for their support and the many ways they have shared their faith with me over the past five years,” Bishop McGovern said. “I hope that the work we have done together in the Belleville Diocese will yield an increase in the active participation of Catholic people and an increase to the priesthood and religious life.
“I look forward to meeting the clergy and faithful in the Archdiocese of Omaha. The Church in Omaha has a great reputation for supporting Catholic education, including many parochial schools, high schools and two Catholic universities. I look forward to learning more about the many ministries carried out and how I can support them.”
As Bishop of Belleville, McGovern led 28 counties.
“While I had been a pastor for 16 years, the ministry of bishop was new to me,” Bishop McGovern said. “The bishop receives a mandate to teach, govern and sanctify. I have tried to fulfill that responsibility since being ordained a bishop, and give credit to the clergy, staff and volunteers who assisted me.”
