New Bishop to be Ordained and Installed Feb 11 in Marquette

Catholic parishioners from throughout the Upper Peninsula are excited about the upcoming episcopal ordination and installation of Bishop-elect John F. Doerfler (pronounced DER-fler) as the thirteenth bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Marquette. It will take place on Tuesday, February 11, 2014, the Memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes, at 2:00 p.m. ET/ 1:00 p.m. CT at St. Peter Cathedral in Marquette.

Since seating in the cathedral is limited, the diocese has arranged for WJMN-TV 3, Marquette to broadcast the service live from 2:00 to 4:30 p.m. ET/1:00 to 3:30 p.m. CT. Providing commentary for the telecast will be Father Ryan Ford, associate pastor of Holy Spirit Parish and Resurrection Parish in Menominee, and Cynthia Thompson, the newly-appointed news director of WJMN-TV. The Mass will also be live streamed via the Internet. Interested persons should log onto the diocese’s website, www.dioceseofmarquette.org and click on the banner promoting the telecast.

In addition, WJMN will provide a feed of the Mass via satellite to EWTN Global Catholic Network, which will air the program live and replay it at midnight ET/11 p.m. CT. One Catholic radio station, WLCJ of Menominee, 92.5 on the FM dial, has committed to broadcasting the Feb. 11 ordination and installation live.

“We are proud and privileged to be able to present this important event to television viewers throughout the Upper Peninsula,” said Joe Denk, Vice President and General Manager of WJMN. “We plan to grow and develop local programming on WJMN in the coming months and coverage of the installation of the new bishop is a wonderful way to begin that commitment.”

WJMN will also air a special half-hour program on Monday, February 10, at 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT in preparation for the ordination and installation that will include an interview with Bishop-elect Doerfler.

Nearly 700 people are expected to attend the ceremony in St. Peter Cathedral, including bishops, clergy, religious and laity. Archbishop Allen Vigneron of Detroit will be the principal consecrator of the Mass. Archbishop Alexander Sample of Portland in Oregon, who was the twelfth bishop of Marquette, and Bishop David Ricken of Green Bay will be the co-consecrators. Witnessing the ordination and installation will be Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, the Apostolic Nuncio (the pope’s representative) to the United States of America. Bishop David Zubik of Pittsburgh, who served as the bishop of Green Bay from 2003 to 2007, will deliver the homily. The music ministry will be provided by a diocesan choir and schola led by Nathan Knutson, the diocesan director of sacred music.

Bishop-elect Doerfler will begin his service to the people of the diocese as their bishop after he is ordained and seated in the cathedra (pronounced KATH-a-dra), which is the bishop’s chair, during the ceremony. “I look forward to serving the people of the Diocese of Marquette with joy,” he said. Bishop-elect Doerfler succeeds Archbishop Sample, who was installed as archbishop of Portland in Oregon on April 2, 2013.

All the priests, deacons and women religious of the diocese have been invited to the ceremony, as well as three representatives from each of the 94 Catholic parishes and missions in the Upper Peninsula.

Admission to the episcopal ordination and installation is by ticket only, but everyone is welcome to greet the new bishop at a reception immediately following the liturgy in the St. Peter Cathedral Parish Hall. That reception is expected to begin at approximately 4:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. CT.

Archbishop Sample was the last priest to be ordained a bishop in the Catholic Diocese of Marquette on January 25, 2006. Prior to that time, it had been over 100 years since a similar ceremony had taken place. Most of the bishops were installed in Marquette after serving as bishops in other places.

Bishop-elect Doerfler, 49, was serving as the Vicar General of the Diocese of Green Bay when he was appointed bishop of Marquette on December 17, 2013. He is a native of Appleton, Wis. and was ordained to the priesthood in 1991. He holds a Licentiate in Canon Law and a Doctorate in Sacred Theology. Bishop-elect Doerfler has served as a parish priest and in several curial posts for the Diocese of Green Bay, including assistant chancellor, chancellor, and tribunal judge. He was also a part-time lecturer in moral theology at Sacred Heart School of Theology in Hales Corners, Wis. this past year.

Bishop-elect Doerfler’s family includes his mother, Germaine; brother, Thomas; sister-in-law, Lisa; and nephew, Bryan. His father, Henry, died in 1998.