David John Walkowiak Explained

Type:bishop
Honorific-Prefix:His Excellency, The Most Reverend
David John Walkowiak
Honorific-Suffix:J.C.D.
Bishop of Grand Rapids
Province:Detroit
See:Grand Rapids
Appointed:April 18, 2013
Enthroned:June 18, 2013
Predecessor:Walter Allison Hurley
Ordination:June 9, 1979
Consecration:June 18, 2013
Consecrated By:Allen Henry Vigneron, Richard Lennon, and Walter A. Hurley
Birth Date:June 18, 1953
Birth Place:Cleveland, Ohio
Nationality:American
Religion:Roman Catholic
Alma Mater:Catholic University of America
Motto:Gratitas agite Domino
(Give thanks to the Lord)
(Psalm 118:1)
Ordained By:James A. Hickey
David John Walkowiak
Dipstyle:

The Most Reverend David John Walkowiak, J.C.D. (born June 18, 1953) is a prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who has been serving as the twelfth bishop of the Diocese of Grand Rapids in Michigan since 2013.[1]

Biography

Early life

David Walkowiak was born in East Cleveland, Ohio, on June 18, 1953, to Dr. John and Virginia Walkowiak. He has three sisters, and the family is of Polish descent.[2] He attended Saint Bernadette school in Westlake, Ohio and then Saint Ignatius High School in Cleveland, Ohio. Walkowiak earned a Bachelor of Arts in government and international studies from the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Indiana, in 1975.

Walkowiak entered Saint Mary Seminary in Wickliffe, Ohio, soon after his college graduation. He received a Master of Divinity from Saint Mary in 1979.

Priesthood

Walkowiak was ordained to the priesthood at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Cleveland by Bishop James Aloysius Hickey for the Diocese of Cleveland on June 9, 1979.[3]

After his 1979 ordination, the diocese assigned Walkowiak as pastoral vicar of Saint Mary Parish in Lorain, Ohio, where he would remain for the next four years. In 1984, he entered Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. Walkowiak received a Licentiate of Canon Law in 1984 and a Doctor of Canon Law in 1987.

After Walkowiak returned to Cleveland in 1988, Bishop Anthony Michael Pilla appointed him as vice-chancellor and as a professor of canon law at Saint Mary Seminary. In 2006, Walkowiak was also appointed as pastor of Saint Joan of Arc Parish in Chagrin Falls, Ohio. He also served as a member of the council of priests and as an associate judge of the court of appeals.

Bishop of Grand Rapids

On April 18, 2013, Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Bishop Walter A. Hurley of the Diocese of Grand Rapids and appointed Walkowiak as his successor. He was consecrated by Archbishop Allen Henry Vigneron on June 18, 2013, at the Cathedral of Saint Andrew in Grand Rapids. Assisting Vigneron as co-consecrators were Bishop Hurley, Apostolic Nuncio Carlo Maria ViganĂ², and twenty other American bishops.

Walkowiak released a statement on November 27, 2019, in which he supported the decision of Reverend Scott Nolan, pastor of St. Stephen Parish in East Grand Rapids, Michigan, to withhold the Eucharist from Sara Smolenski. A town judge, Smolenski told the local media that Nolan notified her before mass that she could not receive communion because of her same-sex marriage. She also said that Nolan had given her communion the week before.[4] [5]

On May 27, 2021, Walkowiak announced that Pope Francis had laicized Reverend William Langlois. The diocese had received allegations in 2018 that Langlois had sexually abused a parishioner when they were a minor between 1999 and 2006. The diocese immediately suspended Langlois, notified local authorities, and started an internal investigation.[6]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Most Reverend David John Walkowiak, J.C.D. . 2023-11-22 . Diocese of Grand Rapids . en-US.
  2. Web site: August 7, 2013 . New Polish Bishop in Michigan . November 22, 2023 . The Post Eagle.
  3. Web site: Bishop David John Walkowiak [Catholic-Hierarchy] ]. 2023-11-22 . www.catholic-hierarchy.org.
  4. Web site: Walkowiak . David . Full Statement of Bishop Walkowiak Concerning Priest Refusing Communion . 2022-01-03 . Catholic Culture.
  5. Web site: November 30, 2019 . Grand Rapids-area pastor denies Holy Communion to gay judge . 2022-01-03 . The Alpena News . en-US.
  6. Web site: Harmon . Zac . 2021-05-07 . Catholic priest in West Michigan removed over credible allegations of sexual abuse . 2022-01-03 . WXMI . en.