Church Catholic Church Successor Incumbent Predecessor Jerome Hanus OSB | In office May 30, 2013–present See Dubuque Name Michael Jackels | |
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Ordination May 30, 1981
by Glennon P. Flavin Education University of Nebraska–Lincoln Other posts Roman Catholic Diocese of Wichita | ||
Michael Owen Jackels (born April 13, 1954) is the twelfth bishop and tenth archbishop of Dubuque in the U.S. state of Iowa. He was previously the Bishop of Wichita in Kansas, replacing Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted. Jackels was consecrated bishop at the Church of the Magdalen in Wichita on April 4, 2005.
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Early life and education
Born in Rapid City, South Dakota, on April 13, 1954, Jackels frequently moved as a child of a military family from Wyoming to Spain to California before settling in Nebraska to complete his secondary studies. As a young man he fell away from his faith becoming more of a Buddhist than anything else, but while working as dishwasher in a country club, a sincere Protestant gave him a copy of the New Testament, the reading of which reportedly brought him back to the Catholic faith. Prior to joining Kentucky's St. Pius X Seminary in 1975, Jackels attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Jackels earned his B.A. in philosophy from St. Pius X in 1977. In 1981, he completed his Master's in Theology at Mt. Saint Mary's Seminary, Emmitsburg, Maryland.
Priesthood
After completing his master's degree, Jackels was ordained a priest for the diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska by Bishop Glennon Patrick Flavin in 1981. His first assignment was serving as the associate pastor of the Cathedral of the Risen Christ, and he also served as a teacher at Pius X High School in Lincoln. From 1982 to 1985, Jackels was assigned to be the associate pastor of St. Thomas Aquinas Parish on the campus of the University of Nebraska, and in addition to his teaching duties at Pius X High School, he also served as the assistant vocations director for the diocese during this period.
In 1985, Jackels embarked on doctoral studies at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) in Rome, earning his doctorate in Sacred Theology in 1989. His dissertation was a study of St. Catherine of Siena.
Upon completion of his doctorate, Jackels returned to Lincoln and for the next eight years served as the Diocesan Director of Religious Education, the Diocesan Master of Ceremonies, the Co-Vicar for Religious, and the Chaplain for the School Sisters of Christ the King. In 1994, Pope John Paul II honored Jackels by naming him a Prelate of Honor, earning Jackels the title of Monsignor.
Monsignor Jackels returned to Rome in 1997 to work for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith under Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. He remained in Rome until Cardinal Ratzinger informed him of his appointment to become the bishop of Wichita in January, 2005. Bishop Jackels was the second-to-last American bishop named by John Paul II to lead a diocese. Only Bishop Thomas Joseph Tobin of Providence (on March 31) and Bishop Edward Braxton of Belleville, Illinois (on March 15) were appointed after Jackels by Pope John Paul II.
Episcopacy
On April 4, 2005, Jackels was ordained as bishop by Archbishop Joseph Fred Naumann of Kansas City, Kansas. Fabian Bruskewitz of Lincoln, Nebraska, and Thomas J. Olmsted of Phoenix, Arizona served as co-consecrators. Among other bishops in attendance were Bishop Paul Coakley of Salina, Kansas; Bishop Ronald Gilmore of Dodge City, Kansas; and Eugene Gerber, bishop emeritus of Wichita. Because of the size of the crowd in attendance and the small size of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Jackels' consecration took place at the larger Church of the Magdalen.
Bishop of Wichita
Bishop Jackels joined the other three Kansas bishops in approving a pastoral letter opposing embryonic stem cell research. He has spoken against same-sex marriage and abortion, as well. He also opposes the death penalty and has written in the diocesan newspaper, Advance, in favor of what he views as more just immigration laws. He also voted to approve language changes in the Mass to bring the English translation into a better accord with the original Latin at the June 2006 meetings of the USCCB in Los Angeles.
In areas outside of doctrine, he is active in promoting Catholic education, and helped to establish the Drexel Fund which calls for donations to help financially strapped Catholic schools within the diocese. The diocese has 48 seminarians, one of the highest numbers of seminarians per capita of diocesan Catholics in the United States.
On May 30, 2008, Jackels served as a co-consecrator to Auxiliary Bishop James D. Conley of Denver, Colorado, who was a priest of the diocese of Wichita prior to his appointment on April 10, 2008. Bishop Jackels joins young Catholics in the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C.
Archbishop of Dubuque
On April 8, 2013, Pope Francis appointed Jackels archbishop of the Archdiocese of Dubuque. He was installed by Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, Apostolic Nuncio to the United States, on May 30, 2013 at the Church of the Nativity in Dubuque.