Priests who know Bishop-elect O’Donnell see him as spiritually insightful, humble, honest

Identifying and affirming gifts are things he does well, along with not needing to take credit for the work.”

Benedictine Father Pachomius Meade

A bishop receives a special commission to help govern the Church in a particular diocese and around the world.

Yet, he remains very much a priest.

“We can know a priest but not know him as a bishop until he becomes a bishop,” said Father Paul Clark. “What’s asked of him is so different from what even a priest can understand.

“One of the mysterious things about Holy Orders is that there are parts of Christ the High Priest that only a deacon knows in his heart, and parts that only a priest knows, and parts that only a bishop knows,” said Fr. Clark, who was a seminarian at Conception Seminary College in northwestern Missouri when Bishop-elect Ralph B. O’Donnell was serving there as vice rector.

He’s one of several priests of this diocese who previously knew the bishop-elect, currently a priest of the Archdiocese of Omaha, Nebraska, who will be ordained and installed as the fifth bishop of Jefferson City on Oct. 28.

“At that time, we will see something no one has seen before: a part of our new bishop’s heart and a part of Christ’s heart that hasn’t been revealed before but will be revealed through the heart of our new bishop,” said Fr. Clark diocesan vocation director, director of seminarians and chaplain of Helias Catholic High School in Jefferson City.

Father Brad Berhorst was also a seminarian at Conception during Bishop-elect O’Donnell’s time as vice rector.

“The kind of gifts and skills he brought to working in priestly formation seem perfect to me in his new role as bishop,” said Fr. Berhorst, who served as judicial vicar for the diocese during much of Archbishop Shawn McKnight’s time here as bishop.

“You’re helping a seminarian discern his calling in life and draw out the gifts that will allow him to respond to that call in the best way,” Fr. Berhorst continued. “And you’re also working to help him strengthen the weak areas that need to be strengthened in order for him to answer that call and follow God’s will.”

A bishop does that on a larger scale for an entire diocese.

“For a bishop, you’re really on a mission to discern the needs of the diocese,” Fr. Berhorst noted. “You’re called to shepherd and to draw out the gifts of the people of the diocese in order to respond to what the Church is calling the diocese to be.”

Just as seminarians in formation need to be open to the things their formators recognize, ask, challenge and encourage in the course of their preparing to become a priest, the people of a diocese must be open to the bishop’s guidance.

“We need that same kind of openness to him and what the Lord is using him to call us to,” said Fr. Berhorst.

The priest is convinced that such openness is nearly impossible without actively seeking God’s grace.

“We all have a picture in our minds of the bishop we want him to be,” Fr. Berhorst stated. “But the Lord is calling him to come and be the bishop that he’s going to be! And we all need to be open to that, because it truly is what God wants for us.”

Honest to goodness

Father Daniel Merz was a classmate of Bishop-elect O’Donnell when they were seminarians at Conception Seminary College.

“I could see a lot of charisma and leadership in him, even then,” said Fr. Merz, pastor of St. Thomas More Newman Center Parish and Sacred Heart Parish, both in Columbia, and diocesan director for  permanent deacons.

“I don’t think any of us had any idea that he was going to be a bishop at that point, but he was someone who had a lot of personality and a lot of good, solid character,” Fr. Merz stated.

The future bishop has always taken seriously the need to grow in his relationship with God, and understands he could not do that without help.

“I remember him as being very aware and honest about his own weaknesses and opportunities for growth,” said Fr. Merz. “I always found that honesty refreshing.”

As a member of a large, devout Catholic family of Irish descent, Bishop-elect O’Donnell has been blessed with strong convictions, powerful emotions, and unbreakable family ties.

“He’s someone who can feel strongly about something, but he knows how to handle that and where to take it — to the Lord and to friends and people he knows he can trust,” said Fr. Merz.

He said Bishop-elect O’Donnell possesses a strong intellectual and academic foundation, upon which God has built a remarkable capacity for finding deep spiritual, relational, emotional and psychological insights.

That helps make him an excellent listener.

“I see him as humble enough to say, ‘I don’t have all the answers. I have to make decisions and I need good input,’” said Fr. Merz.

“I see the cross”

Benedictine Father Pachomius Meade of Conception Abbey worked under Bishop-elect O’Donnell for three years in human formation at Conception Seminary College.

“He is an administrator who appreciates the individual gifts of others and is happy to let them put those particular gifts to use,” said Fr. Pachomius, who grew up in Palmyra.

As the youngest priest working in formation at the seminary at that time, Fr. Pachomius was ready to take orders from those in charge.

However, Bishop-elect O’Donnell regularly sought his counsel, and having observed which aspects of the role Fr. Pachomius excels at, “he encouraged me to lead in those areas,” the priest said.

“Identifying and affirming gifts are things he does well, along with not needing to take credit for the work,” Fr. Pachomius stated.

He noted that the new bishop is compassionate and has sincere empathy for others.

“He definitely has that Irish sort of emotionalism, and he is sensitive to the individual stories of those under his care,” said Fr. Pachomius.

That is an especially useful gift in this era of intense polarization in the United States and in many corners of the Church.

“He will have good words for his flock regarding seeing Christ in each individual,” said Fr. Pachomius.

The bishop-elect is also decisive.

“He has a point of view and is ready to make hard choices, even with impending consequences for those who will stand firm behind the decision,” said Fr. Pachomius.

On several occasions, Bishop-elect O’Donnell has stated: “Everywhere I turn, I see the cross.”

“He, of course, means that often what is not our preference or an instance of impossible obedience is where human and spiritual maturity occurs,” said Fr. Pachomius.

Joyful heart

Father César Anicama was a seminarian at Conception while Bishop-elect O’Donnell was vice rector.

“He’s a good priest with a heart for the Church, and I know he’ll be a good shepherd for the people of God in central and Northeastern Missouri,” said Fr. Anicama, parochial administrator at St. Mary Parish in Milan and the Mission of St. Mary in Unionville.

He’s grateful to Pope Leo XIV for the gift of this new bishop.

“I’m very optimistic about him,” said Fr. Anicama. “I ask Mary, Our Blessed Mother, to watch over him in her tender care.”

Fr. Clark believes he’s a better priest because of the influence Bishop-elect O’Donnell had on him as a seminarian.

“He did a great job of teaching me first how the choices I make affect the people around me, and how that would be like in a parish,” said Fr. Clark.

Even things that individuals think are the right way to do things have to be seen through a different lens when one is working to become a spiritual father to an entire parish.

“I think back to some of the discussions we had in formation, and he really brought that lens of a father to it,” said Fr. Clark. “Taking responsibility, having empathy and really caring for the good of those entrusted to us.”

The priest pointed out that seminary formation is unlike anything else in the Church.

“And I do remember how honest he was with us that this was his first time in a role like this,” said Fr. Clark. “Hearing him ask for prayers and patience and understanding was very significant for me. Because if he, who had authority, could ask for that, I can also give myself permission to ask for that.”

Fr. Berhorst recalled Bishop-elect O’Donnell having a great sense of humor and clearly loving being a priest.

“He had a real joy about him that is another gift that I think will serve him well,” said Fr. Berhorst. “That was something I wanted to emulate as a priest.”

“He doesn’t take himself too seriously,” Fr. Pachomius observed, “and when among friends, he can share a good laugh. This makes him quite approachable and personable.”

Fr. Merz pointed out that Bishop-elect O’Donnell values emotional maturity and intellectual honestly.

“If he knows that people support him, he will bend over backwards to love and carry and support us,” Fr. Merz stated.

He noted that the bishop-elect loves people and enjoys spending time with friends.

He’s already well acquainted with several priests of this diocese, some of whom he’s known for years.

“But it’s a bit of a strange situation for him, because he comes as bishop,” said Fr. Merz. “It can be an isolating office to hold.”

The new bishop is open to candid dialogue, but he appreciates differences being aired respectfully and charitably.

 “He’s got quite a bit of experience in terms of managing personnel,” said Fr. Merz. “And I think he’s done so in a balanced and insightful way.

“He’s a consensus man,” Fr. Merz continued. “While assigning priests, he will want to pay attention to and utilize our gifts. He won’t just be about filling positions. He’ll want to really see more deeply what this person’s gifts are and put them to use in that way.

“And he’ll make a point of calling forth those gifts!” Fr. Merz predicted. “That was part of his job as vocation director and when he was director of the Diaconate in his home diocese.”

“What we need”

The Church speaks of the bishop as a brother priest and at the same time as a father to the priests.

“We, therefore, need to allow our hearts to first be open to what he is going to reveal about the Father’s heart to us,” Fr. Clark noted. “We have to allow ourselves to be sons and to be loved as sons before we can live out fatherhood.”

“The Holy Spirit is telling us, ‘This is what my priests and people of the Jefferson City diocese need,’” the priest stated. “It might be different from what we think we need.”

Therefore, Fr. Clark suggested taking inventory of one’s own preferences and expectations and prayerfully laying them before the altar, “letting go of them and sacrificing them, giving the Lord greater freedom to say, ‘This is what I know you need.’”

As Bishop-elect O’Donnell prepares to enter this sacred office, Fr. Berhorst suggested that everyone pray for openness to receiving the gifts the new bishop brings to his ministry, along with any human weaknesses.

“And pray the same for him,” Fr. Berhorst advised. “He’s leaving his own ministry and his family and his brother priests and that whole life behind to come here and minister to us.

“So, pray for openness on his part to receive who we are and the gifts and weaknesses that we have,” he said.