Type: | Bishop |
Honorific-Prefix: | His Excellency, The Most Reverend |
David Konderla | |
Bishop of Tulsa | |
Archdiocese: | Oklahoma City |
Diocese: | Tulsa |
Appointed: | May 13, 2016 |
Enthroned: | June 29, 2016 |
Predecessor: | Edward Slattery |
Ordination: | June 3, 1991 |
Ordained By: | John E. McCarthy |
Consecration: | June 29, 2016 |
Consecrated By: | Paul Stagg Coakley, Edward James Slattery, Joe S. Vásquez |
Birth Date: | June 3, 1960 |
Birth Place: | Bryan, Texas, US |
Motto: | Nisi Dominus aedificaverit (Unless the Lord had built) |
Education: | St. Mary's Seminary University of St. Thomas |
David Austin Konderla | |
Dipstyle: |
David Austin Konderla (born June 3, 1960) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church, who was appointed the fourth bishop of the Diocese of Tulsa in Oklahoma on May 13, 2016.
David Konderla was born on June 3, 1960, in Bryan, Texas, the second of twelve children of David and Ann Konderla. He graduated from Bryan High School in 1978 and then worked as a machinist for several years.[1] [2]
Konderla entered Holy Trinity Seminary at the University of Dallas in Irving, Texas, in 1985. He continued his education at St. Mary's Seminary at the University of St. Thomas in Houston, receiving a Master of Divinity degree in 1989.[3]
Konderla was ordained a priest at San Jose Church in Austin, Texas, on June 3, 1995, for the Diocese of Austin by Bishop John McCarthy.[4] After his ordination, the diocese assigned Konderla as parochial vicar at the following parishes in Texas:
Konderla left the Catholic Center in 2001 after being appointed vocations director for the diocese. Four years later, he returned to Texas A&M to serve as pastor and director of campus ministry. He would remain in these positions for the next 11 years. Konderla also served the college of consultors, the presbyteral council, and the priest personnel board for the diocese.
Pope Francis appointed Konderla as bishop of Tulsa on May 13, 2016. His consecration by Archbishop Paul Stagg Coakley occurred on June 29, 2016, at the Donald W. Reynolds Center at the University of Tulsa, with Bishops Edward Slattery and Joe S. Vásquez serving as co-consecrators.[5]
In October 2019, Konderla released a list of nine priests and two deacons from the diocese with credible accusations of sexual abuse of children.[6]
Konderla withdrew the diocese from the Oklahoma Conference of Churches in October 2020. The director of the conference, Reverend Shannon Fleck, said that Konderla objected to the inclusion of LGBTQ individuals in a statement against discrimination. However, in November 2020, Konderla said his reason for leaving was that the conference would not address discrimination against "unborn children".[7]
In February 2022, Korderla joined a vigil outside the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, Oklahoma, to protest the upcoming execution of Gilbert Postelle. He had been convicted of four murders in 2005.[8] Postelle was executed by lethal injection on February 17, 2022.[9]
Konderla's hobbies include carpentry and woodworking.