Pope names Erie priest bishop of Diocese of Kalamazoo, Michigan
A top cleric in the Catholic Diocese of Erie has been named bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Monsignor Edward M. Lohse, 61, the vicar general of the Erie diocese and pastor of St. Julia Church in Millcreek Township, will be installed in his new post on July 25, the Erie diocese said Tuesday.
The diocese said Pope Francis appointed Lohse bishop-elect of Kalamazoo earlier in the day.
"It came as a surprise," Lohse said at a news conference livestreamed from Kalamazoo on Tuesday.
Lohse, a priest for 34 years, will succeed retiring Bishop Paul J. Bradley, who has led the Kalamazoo diocese since June 2009. Bradley, 77, submitted his resignation when he turned 75, as the Vatican requires.
The city of Kalamazoo, in southwest Michigan, has a population of about 73,500. The nine-county Catholic Diocese of Kalamazoo has about 80,000 members. The 13-county Catholic Diocese of Erie has about 195,000 members.
"I am both humbled and honored to be asked by the Holy Father to become the fifth Bishop of Kalamazoo, and I am grateful to Bishop Bradley for his support," Lohse said in a statement. "The task ahead is a daunting one, but none of us walks the path of faith alone.
"I know that I will need to count on the prayers of Bishop Bradley, the priests, religious and laity of the diocese, and I pledge my prayers for them in return. Together, we will go forward to proclaim Christ, and to meet him in the hearts of all God’s people in the Diocese of Kalamazoo."
Persico: 'We rejoice at this honor' for Lohse
As vicar general of the Erie diocese, Lohse has been the chief aide to Bishop Lawrence T. Persico, who has led the Erie diocese for 10 years.
"As a diocese, we rejoice at this honor for one of our fine priests," Persico said in a statement. "It is a testament to the clergy of the Diocese of Erie. Although it is difficult to lose one of our priests who has served with great faith,wisdom and hope, we rejoice with the church of Kalamazoo on their new shepherd."
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Lohse will be ordained and installed as bishop on July 25 at St. Augustine Cathedral in Kalamazoo.
At the news conference Tuesday, Lohse thanked the Diocese of Erie and Persico, whom he described "as a role model for me." Lohse pledged to "give my all" to Catholics in the Kalamazoo diocese.
"This will be our common journey together," he said.
Lohse's many postings include work at Vatican
Lohse grew up on a farm in McKean, where his family belonged to St. Francis Xavier Church. He attended Our Lady of Peace Elementary School in Millcreek, graduated from Cathedral Preparatory School and studied for the priesthood first at St. Mark Seminary while attending Gannon University.
Lohse received a bachelor's degree in history at Gannon in 1984 and received a master's in divinity at St. Vincent Seminary in Latrobe in 1987.
He was ordained a priest at St. Peter Cathedral in Erie 1989 and has held a number of positions in the Erie diocese and the Vatican.
Lohse was assistant chancellor of the Erie diocese in 2001-02, vice-chancellor in 2002-07 and chancellor in 2007-10, all under Bishop Donald W. Trautman, who served from 1990 to 2012 and died in 2022. In 2010-15, Lohse served as an official of the Congregation for the Clergy in Rome. The Holy See appointed him to that post.
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Lohse returned to Erie at the end of 2015, when he was also named a monsignor. Persico appointed him episcopalvicar for canonical services for the Diocese of Erie in 2016, He was in that post for a year before Persico in 2017 named him director of the Office for the Protection of Children and Youth as well as moderator of the curia and vicar general, both top administrative posts.
Lohse has held those three positions simultaneously, while also working as the pastor of St. Julia Parish since 2022.
Other Erie priests who have been named bishops
Lohse is the second priest in the Catholic Diocese of Erie to be named a bishop since 2011 and the third since 2004. The other two priests were appointed to head dioceses in Pennsylvania.
Challenges ahead: The Catholic Diocese of Erie is restructuring parishes again. Here's what you need to know
In 2011, Monsignor Mark L. Bartchak was appointed the bishop of the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown. Bartchak, then 56, was the judicial vicar for the Diocese of Erie, a post in which he heard cases in ecclesiastical court. He remains the bishop of the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown.
In 2004, Monsignor Lawrence E. Brandt was named bishop of the Diocese of Greensburg. Brandt, then 64, was chancellor of the Diocese of Erie, a post in which he was the diocese's third-highest official. Brandt retired as bishop of the Diocese of Greensburg in 2014 and remained bishop until his successor was named a year later.
As Lohse waits to become bishop of Kalamazoo, Bradley, the current bishop, will stay on as apostolic administrator of the diocese, the diocese said.
The Diocese of Kalamazoo is a young diocese compared with the Diocese of Erie, which was founded in 1853. The Diocese of Kalamazoo was founded in 1971. It was created "when the Second Vatican Council called for the creation of smaller dioceses so that bishops could be more available to the people they serve," according to the diocese.
Contact Ed Palattella at epalattella@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNpalattella.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Pope names Erie priest bishop of Diocese of Kalamazoo, Michigan
