From ordaining a new auxiliary bishop to ordaining 18 permanent deacons; from Pope Francis choosing a local parishioner as a non-bishop voting delegate for the Synod of Bishops in Rome to the annual Tekakwitha Conference being held in the Twin Cities — 2023 was a memorable year for the local Church. The Catholic Spirit staff chose these events as significant and worthy of review.

Stillwater pastor installed as an auxiliary bishop

With his Jan. 5 appointment and April 11 ordination Mass at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul, Bishop Michael Izen joined Bishop Joseph Williams as an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Bishop Izen also serves as pastor of St. Francis of Assisi in Lake St. Croix Beach. Bishop Izen’s appointment came as he was pastor of the Churches of St. Michael and St. Mary in Stillwater, parochial administrator of St. Charles in Bayport and canonical administrator of St. Croix Catholic School in Stillwater.

Abortion rights placed into state law despite Catholic, pro-life outcry

The Minnesota Legislature passed, and Gov. Tim Walz signed, a bill Jan. 31 placing a right to abortion into state law, a move preceded by the U.S. Supreme Court last year overturning its 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion nationwide. The Legislature also approved and Walz signed a measure March 7 widely known as “Driver’s Licenses for All,” allowing undocumented immigrants to apply for driver’s licenses. The Catholic bishops of Minnesota, the Minnesota Catholic Conference and other pro-life groups lobbied hard to prevent the codification of abortion. The bishops and MCC had long argued that Driver’s Licenses for All would keep roads safer and allow undocumented immigrants to drive to meet basic needs while not fearing to be separated from their families by potential deportation if pulled over each time they got behind the wheel.

National Tekakwitha Conference honored Indigenous Catholics’ spirituality

The Twin Cities hosted the 84th annual Tekakwitha Conference July 19-23, which honored Indigenous Catholics’ culture, spirituality and traditions. The conference drew several hundred people from across the country. The conference also addressed the difficult issues of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls and the generational trauma brought by American Indian boarding schools. A designated culture day included a morning water ceremony with prayers and hymns recognizing God’s gift of the precious resource, a Mass celebrated by Archbishop Bernard Hebda and, later, a powwow with drumming, chanting and dancing.

Local and Vatican synods moved forward

Inspired by the three-year Archdiocesan Synod process, parishioners chosen by pastors to form Synod Evangelization Teams gathered in January for three kickoff events. Then in May, more than 1,500 people from across the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis gathered in Minneapolis for Mass, speakers, music, prayer, adoration of the Eucharist and personal testimonies as implementing the Archdiocesan Synod took a big step forward. The process continues as the archdiocese becomes the first diocese to use a process for relational evangelization via small groups in parishes called the Parish Evangelization Cells System. In a separate development, Cynthia Bailey Manns, adult learning director at St. Joan of Arc in Minneapolis, was chosen by Pope Francis as one of 10 non-bishop voting delegates to represent the North American region at the first general assembly of the Vatican Synod of Bishops on synodality in October. She is one of four laypeople from the United States appointed by the pope. Discernment continues for the Vatican synod, and a second session of the Synod of Bishops will be held in October 2024.

Relics on tour

Six parishes in the archdiocese took turns Sept. 18-23 hosting relics of St. Jude, including St. Jude of the Lake in Mahtomedi. Its pastor, Father Chad VanHoose, called the moment historic and said having relics of the parish’s patron saint, “let alone one of the 12 Apostles … is unbelievable.” In a separate tour Oct. 4-15, the relics of St. Thérèse of Lisieux and her parents, Sts. Louis and Zélie Martin, were publicly displayed and venerated at St. Mary in Stillwater, the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul, the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis and St. Therese in Deephaven. Thousands of people lined up in a full Cathedral to kneel and venerate the relics Oct. 6. Veneration was preceded by hundreds of people walking a half-mile from the Minnesota State Capitol to the Cathedral in the annual Candlelight Rosary Procession.

Ordinations and consecrations

Four women were consecrated for life as virgins in the world by Archbishop Bernard Hebda at a March 25 liturgy at the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis. Two more women were so consecrated in subsequent months. In addition, four men were ordained priests May 27 at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul. Thirteen men were ordained transitional deacons at the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis May 13, the last major step in formation for ordination to the priesthood. And 18 men were ordained permanent deacons Dec. 9 at the Cathedral — a number that ties the previous high for the archdiocese set in 1978.

Leadership change

Tim O’Malley, director of Ministerial Standards and Safe Environment (MSSE) for nine years and credited with leading the archdiocese out of a crisis stemming from clergy sexual abuse, started a new chapter Aug. 1 as part-time adviser to Archbishop Bernard Hebda and senior archdiocesan leadership in areas related to strategic planning and health. O’Malley also works with Paul Iovino, who was promoted from deputy director to director of MSSE. Coworkers, victims-survivors and other observers praised O’Malley for his ability and compassion.

Restorative justice

In the past decade, emerging restorative justice practices local Church leaders and laity have used to guide the archdiocese through pain on a path toward healing have become a model for other groups seeking to do the same. Father Daniel Griffith, founding director of the Initiative on Restorative Justice and Healing (IRJH) at the University of St. Thomas School of Law in Minneapolis, works with Julie Craven, assistant director of IRJH and the archdiocese’s ombudsperson for clerical sexual abuse, on the alignment of restorative justice principles with the Catholic faith. Among other initiatives this year, they helped organize and host an Oct. 5-7 National Catholic Conference on Restorative Justice at the law school.