Pope names new bishop for Diocese of Lafayette

Bishop-designate Timothy L. Doherty addresses the media and others gathered for a May 12 news conference at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Lafayette announcing his appointment as the new bishop of the Diocese of Lafayette, Ind. Seated is retiring Bishop William L. Higi of the Diocese of Lafayette. (Photo courtesy The Catholic Moment)

By Kevin Cullen (The Catholic Moment)

LAFAYETTE—Bishop-designate Timothy L. Doherty said “yes” to God and the Church in 1976 when he was ordained a priest for his home diocese, the Diocese of Rockford, Ill.

He has said “yes” again by accepting the call of Pope Benedict XVI to serve as the sixth bishop of the Diocese of Lafayette, Ind. The appointment was announced in Washington on May 12 by Archbishop Pietro Sambi, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

Bishop-designate Doherty’s episcopal ordination and installation will be celebrated on July 15.

“I am humbled by the call of our Holy Father Benedict XVI. This part of my priesthood was not anticipated,” he said at a news conference held on May 12 at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Lafayette.

The retirement of Bishop William L. Higi was announced at the same time. A prayer service and reception followed.

“I am privileged to be with you,” Bishop-designate Doherty told the 100 people who gathered for the liturgy, “and besides acknowledging the common faith that draws us all here … the discipleship of Christ, I am simply pledging myself to you and I’m asking for your prayers and your help.

“It’s just such a transition—for which I’m appreciative, but it’s all new,” said the former parish priest who was the Rockford Diocese’s health care ethicist. “Yesterday, I like to say, I was in charge of leaks, lights, locks, loans and lawns. … Today, it’s a different life.”

Bishop Higi, 76, who has led the Lafayette Diocese since 1984, will serve as its apostolic administrator until Bishop-designate Doherty, 59, is ordained and installed.

In a prepared statement, Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein of Indianapolis welcomed Bishop-designate Doherty.

“All the clergy and faithful of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis welcome Bishop-designate Doherty to Indiana. He has our prayers and support. I am looking forward to his ordination as bishop and working with him for the good of the pastoral care of all people in Indiana,” Archbishop Buechlein said. “We thank Bishop Higi for his many years of service to the people of God of the Lafayette Diocese.”

Father James Farrell, director of Our Lady of Fatima Retreat House in Indianapolis, knew Bishop-designate Doherty when both men were in the seminary together at the Pontifical North American College in Rome in the mid-1970s.

“He was just a very pleasant person, a good spirit,” Father Farrell said. “He had a great attitude. He was just a very upbeat person, solid, a stable influence in his class, a good person. I think he’ll make a wonderful contribution to the Diocese of Lafayette. I look forward to having him in the area.”

Prior to being appointed the next bishop of Lafayette, Msgr. Doherty was the pastor of two parishes—St. Catherine of Siena in Dundee, Ill., and St. Mary Mission Church in Gilberts, Ill.

Bishop Higi, a native of Anderson, Ind. was ordained a priest for the Lafayette Diocese in 1959. He has served as an associate pastor, parish administrator, secretary to the bishop, vice chancellor, chancellor and vicar general. He was elected administrator of the diocese when Bishop George Fulcher died in 1984, and was installed as bishop later that year.

Responding to a reporter’s question, Bishop-designate Doherty said he received the life-changing call just after completing the funeral for a 53-year-old fire department lieutenant.

The man had died unexpectedly, leaving four children. More than 100 firefighters paid tribute. At the request of the family, he and others wore green wristbands that read “Donate Life” to encourage organ donations.

Shortly after he returned to the office, sad and tired from the funeral, the phone rang.

With a smile, Bishop-designate Doherty said he didn’t know when he put his wristband on that, in less than 30 minutes, he would make a “whole body donation to the Diocese of Lafayette.”

Formed in 1944, the Diocese of Lafayette covers 24 counties, and has 63 parishes with 105,000 Catholics.

The Diocese of Rockford, Ill., with 11 counties, has 105 parishes and approximately 450,000 Catholics.

Both dioceses have a mix of rural, suburban and urban parishes.

After his ordination to the priesthood, Bishop-designate Doherty served at Rockford’s cathedral parish, taught at Catholic high schools and served as an assistant principal. He was appointed diocesan ethicist for health care issues in 1995, and served on the board of the Illinois Catholic Health Association.

Bishop-designate Doherty has been active in heath care issues for years at the diocesan, state and national levels. Catholic hospitals and nursing homes, he said, form a “huge part of the ministry of the Church.”

When asked about Catholic education, he noted that when he was ordained, priests were also expected to teach.

“I learned to love it,” he said.

He taught part time and full time at two Catholic high schools for 14 years, he said.

Although he will be available to assist the new bishop in any way, Bishop Higi said, “I think it is very important for me to sort of disappear for a while so he can get his feet on the ground, and send a clear message to everybody that he is the new shepherd.”

Bishop Higi added, “He [Bishop-designate Doherty] will have his own style. He will be his own man. It is a great blessing for us to have a man with more energy, a man with a different vision and a different experience of Church. I couldn’t be happier with the [pope’s] choice.”

(Kevin Cullen is editor of The Catholic Moment, newspaper of the Diocese-of-Lafayette in Indiana. Criterion reporter Sean Gallagher contributed to this story.) †