Welcoming Our New "Coadjutor" Bishop

Bishop Joseph A. Williams

Dear Parishioners,

In a few hours I will be leaving to participate in the Mass of Welcome for Bishop Joseph A. Williams at St. Agnes Church in Blackwood, NJ. Bishop Williams is being prepared to be the ninth Bishop of Camden, serving the Diocese of Camden as its Ordinary (its leader or head). Initially, he is named as coadjutor bishop, assisting Bishop Sullivan until he steps down in March, 2025.

I can remember the rector of my seminary telling me a long time ago that I would most likely see at least five different bishops as Ordinary of my diocese during my lifetime. Well, he was certainly right!

Bishop George H. Guilfoyle was the first bishop that I actually met. He presided at a ceremony dedicating the new St. Ann’s School in Wildwood, where I attended and served as an altar boy. I remember the bishop blessing the cornerstone of the school while I stood nearby as an altar boy during the ceremony. Many years later, Bishop Guilfoyle would be the bishop ordaining me a priest to serve our diocese!

Although he was not the head of our diocese, I was friendly with Bishop James L. Schad, the only auxiliary bishop that Camden ever had. I would act as the master of ceremonies for some of the bishop’s Confirmation assignments, often driving him to and from the various churches. During those drives, we had the opportunity to talk about many things and I am grateful for the many insights that the bishop shared with me. May he rest in peace!

Bishop James T. McHugh, Bishop Nicholas A. DiMarzio, Bishop Joseph A. Galante and Bishop Dennis J. Sullivan all succeeded Bishop Guilfoyle, making Bishop Williams the 6^th bishop that I will have had as my Ordinary.

Bishop Williams comes to us from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, where he served as an auxiliary bishop. According to his biography in the Catholic Star Herald:

Born May 2, 1974, to Dr. Gary and Mary MacDonald Williams, Bishop Williams is the third of nine children. He grew up in Stillwater, where he attended Saint Croix Catholic School and Stillwater High School. His brother, Father Peter Williams, ordained in 2004, is a priest of the Archdiocese, and is Pastor of Saint Ambrose in Woodbury, Minnesota.

Bishop Williams holds a B.A. in biology from the University of Minnesota, Morris, graduating summa cum laude in 1996. He studied philosophy and pre-theology at Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio, from 1996-1998 and attended The St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity in St. Paul from 1998-2002, where he earned a Master of Divinity degree. He was ordained a priest at age 28.

I take this time to welcome Bishop Williams to our diocese and to thank Bishop Sullivan for his years of service to the diocese.

Our prayers are with you Bishop Williams as you begin your time here with us. At every Mass, when we pray for Joseph, our coadjutor bishop, know that you have our prayerful and loving support!  May God grant you good health and the necessary graces to be our spiritual shepherd.

Fr. Ed Namiotka

Pastor

    

Our Episcopal "Uber" Driver

 

Bishop Gregory W. Gordon (right) and me

Dear Parishioners,

This past week I had the privilege of attending the episcopal ordination of one of my good friends from my college seminary days.  On July 16, 2021, Bishop Gregory W. Gordon became the first auxiliary bishop for the Diocese of Las Vegas, Nevada.  We had studied together at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary (Overbrook) in Philadelphia.

At the Mass were eighteen archbishops/bishops and one cardinal of the Catholic Church together with many priests, deacons, religious and laity of the diocese.  The Shrine of the Most Holy Redeemer was the chosen location for the ceremony since it could hold more people than the smaller Guardian Angel Cathedral.

My life and Bishop Gordon’s life have had some interesting parallels over the years.  We were both born in Philadelphia.  We are both one of five children, four boys and a girl.  Our families both had homes in the Wildwoods, NJ.  Both of our fathers sadly died of heart attacks around the same age, in their early sixties.  Both of our mothers are approximately the same age.  He began his priesthood in the former Diocese of Reno-Las Vegas (now the Diocese of Las Vegas)—THE gambling mecca of the country.  Similarly, I am a priest for the Diocese of Camden, which until more recent years, was the only other place with legalized casino gambling (in Atlantic City).

That’s where many of the similarities end.  After college he went on to the Pontifical North American College in Rome, while I studied at Mt. St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, MD.  He has had various diocesan positions including Vicar General, while I spent a majority of my priesthood involved in Catholic education.  Notably, if you put us side by side you will notice another significant difference:  I stand about a foot taller than him.  Unfortunately, even with his episcopal miter on, he does not reach my height.  Fortunately, we remained friends over the years and I was happy to have been invited to share this joyful occasion with Bishop Gordon and his family.

One thing that struck me and my brother priests whom I was travelling with, was the warmth and hospitality that both Bishop Gordon and his Ordinary, Bishop George Leo Thomas showed us.  In the midst of all that he had to do, Bishop Gordon frequently acted as our chauffer, taking us from location to location in his own car.  I referred to him as our episcopal Uber driver.  Moreover, Bishop Thomas warmly received us as his guests in his diocesan office and took time to talk with us and make us feel at home.  I compliment both of them for their cordiality.

Speaking to Bishop Gordon about a month before his ordination, he called and asked me to pray for him.  I wondered what was wrong.  Was he sick?  “No, I am being made a bishop,” was his reply.  Oh!  Subsequently, I would ask when his execution date was.    

Please pray for Bishop Gordon and all of his brother bishops.  When Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, his Metropolitan Archbishop, made some remarks at the end of the Mass, he began with “Congratulations and condolences.”  Being a bishop in today’s world will have many joys, but will also involve picking up a cross and following the Lord Jesus daily.  St. John Neumann, the fourth bishop of Philadelphia, used to say that for him every day it felt like he was going to the gallows, as he never really wanted to be a bishop.

Bishop Gordon is now one of the Successors of the Apostles.  Every day I realize more and more the Catholic Church’s rich tradition encapsulated in the phrase from the Nicene Creed: one, holy, catholic and apostolic.

God bless our episcopal Uber driver!

Fr. Ed Namiotka

Pastor