Welcome Archbishop Etienne!
Today, on the feast of Pope Saint Gregory the Great, Pope Francis accepted the resignation of J. Peter Sartain, Archbishop of Seattle for these past nine years. His Coadjutor Archbishop Paul D. Etienne has automatically succeeded him as head of the Archdiocese of Seattle. Welcome Archbishop Etienne!
The Northwest Catholic introduced him:
Archbishop Etienne (pronounced AY-chin), 60, was archbishop of the Archdiocese of Anchorage, Alaska, when he was appointed coadjutor. He previously served as bishop of Cheyenne, Wyoming, and as a priest of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis.
Source: Northwest Catholic
“My life is at the service of the church,” he told Northwest Catholic in April. “I’m a pastor at heart.”
In the homily at his Mass of Reception June 7 at Seattle’s St. James Cathedral, Archbishop Etienne focused on the love on Jesus.
“My dear people, this is one of our highest priorities in the church today — to help people encounter Christ, to know him on an intimate and personal level, to hear his Gospel, to come to discover in Christ God’s intimate, personal love, and to come to faith in Jesus Christ,” he said. “Everything else follows that central priority.”
Our new archbishop began with a letter to the people of the archdiocese, a letter in which I find a great deal of hope. In it, he says,
Proclaiming Jesus Christ is the first priority of the Church, and must be ours as well. How are we communicating Christ in action to the world? How do we accomplish this through our ministries? How are we personally living our lives to help others encounter Christ? This comes down to the priorities and values that we have. To me, this is where we need to focus our efforts.
To help align our efforts and make meaningful progress across the archdiocese, we need a strategic pastoral plan. We need to ensure it is not only relevant and actionable, but that it ignites our people and inspires them to lead a Christ-focused life. My goal is to design a robust plan in partnership with you, the people of the Archdiocese of Seattle.
He goes on to call for the formation of an Archdiocesan Pastoral Council, composed of “lay representatives across the archdiocese who reflect the diversity of our archdiocese — both culturally and geographically”. If this actually happens it would be an amazing thing.
The Archbishop also decries a lack of community, essential in practicing and handing on the faith. “Living solely as individuals is not Catholic living. Catholics live in community with each other.”
Amen to that!
The kids are gathering to make s’mores while most of the adults are inside chatting.
I count six altar servers in this photo.
Let us pray for our new Archbishop! Ad multos annos!
O God, eternal shepherd,
you tend your Church in many ways and rule us with love.
You have chosen your servant, Paul,
to be a shepherd of your flock.
Give him a spirit of courage and right judgment,
a spirit of knowledge and love.
By governing with fidelity those entrusted to his care,
may he build your Church
as a sign of salvation for the world.
Amen.
