Last week I traveled to Superior to attend and to photograph the ordination and installation of Bishop James Powers, 11th bishop of the Diocese of Superior. It wasn’t the first episcopal ordination I’ve covered. The first was in 2002 in Milwaukee for the installation of Archbishop Timothy Dolan. The other installations/ordinations included Bishop William Callahan as auxiliary bishop of Milwaukee (he was later appointed bishop of La Crosse) and Bishop David Ricken of Green Bay.
What made the ordination of Bishop Powers different than the rest was the fact that I also attended the new bishop’s ordination to the priesthood on May 20, 1990. At the time I was editor of the Superior Catholic Herald. Fr. James Powers was ordained at his home parish of Immaculate Conception in the small town of Hammond. The story I wrote for the paper stated that Fr. Powers was the parish’s first native son ordained to the priesthood.
As it turned out, Bishop Powers was also the diocese’s first native son to be ordained bishop of Superior. The seventh bishop of Superior, Joseph Annabring (1954-1959), immigrated to Wisconsin with his family at age 3 from Hungary. They settled in Turtle Lake and Bishop Annabring was ordained a priest for the diocese in 1927. So, while Bishop Powers was the second priest of the Superior Diocese to become bishop, he is the first born in the diocese.
Congratulations to all my friends in the Diocese of Superior. You deserve these blessings.
Below is a slideshow of photos shot during and after the ordination of Bishop Powers.
Sam Lucero is former editor of the Superior Catholic Herald. To order ordination photos contact him at http://samlucero.com/
This column was originally published Feb. 25, 2016 at thecompassnews.org.
