Retired Omaha archbishop sees bishop-elect as strong collaborator, consensus-builder
Archbishop Emeritus George J. Lucas of Omaha, Nebraska, offered some advice to Bishop-elect Ralph B. O’Donnell upon learning that he had been appointed to lead the Jefferson City diocese.
“Be yourself!”
“The Lord is giving him the gifts that he needs, and he will be able to use them in a way that’s generous and effective,” said Archbishop Lucas, a St. Louis native who led the Omaha archdiocese from 2009 until earlier this year.
Bishop-elect O’Donnell was serving as pastor of two parishes and as director of the Permanent Diaconate for the Omaha archdiocese when Archbishop Lucas arrived there 16 years ago.
“My early impression of him was an enduring one: that he’s very collaborative and works very well with a variety of people, both in his parishes and in the formation of deacons,” the archbishop stated.
“He seemed very able and happy to juggle those responsibilities and make his parish ministries and diaconate formation effective by trusting and relying on the good work of other people.”
Many of those people are experiencing a mix of joy and loss at Bishop-elect O’Donnell’s appointment.
“He has been a very effective pastor in all of his parish assignments,” said Archbishop Lucas. “There is not another one just like him.
“At the same time, we understand that he is being called by the Holy Father to important service in the Church,” he said.
Like his predecessor, Archbishop Shawn McKnight of Kansas City in Kansas, Bishop-elect O’Donnell recognizes the wisdom of drawing everyone in the Church into carrying out its mission.
Several years ago, he signed up for the Good Shepherds, Good Pastors program provided by the Catholic Leadership Institute.
A cohort of priests in the Jefferson City diocese also took part in the program at around the same time.
Several members of Bishop-elect O’Donnell’s parish commented on how the program helped him lead and collaborate better.
“He already had lots of pastoral experience and was adept at bringing people together in the parish,” Archbishop Lucas noted.
“Working to improve on that — that’s very typical of him and very much the way he operates: starting with prayer and then bringing people together to discern how the Lord is leading us forward,” he said.
Part of a plan
Bishop-elect O’Donnell was one of many pastors in the Omaha archdiocese who worked with their parishioners to develop and implement a major planning initiative known as Journey in Faith.
The focus was on collaboration and evangelization — inviting people back to the faith and sharing the Gospel with people who had no faith home.
“The first step was to work together to discern a pastoral vison for the archdiocese,” said Archbishop Lucas. “Then, we began to work together to implement that.”
While putting the vision into practice, “we realized that some of the structures we had at that time — parish structures and assignments of clergy — were not really what we needed at that time to serve the vision,” he continued.
“Then, we began to think about how parishes could work together, how we could invite collaboration among parishioners and parish staffs across the archdiocese.”
The archbishop credits much of the success of the process to the talents, energy and cooperation of the priests of the archdiocese.
“It’s their leadership that helped people see the value and necessity of putting the new structures into effect,” he stated.
Bishop-elect O’Donnell likely learned much from the planning process, which bears some similarity to work that’s been taking place in the Jefferson City diocese.
“A pastor, much like a bishop, has the responsibility and opportunity to hold up a vision for people to discern with them prayerfully what the Lord is offering us and asking us at this particular moment,” said Archbishop Lucas.
“Bishop-elect O’Donnell did that really effectively with the people of St. Margaret Mary Parish,” he said, “and the parish is right in the middle of implementing some important physical improvements and pastoral initiatives as they move into the future.”
Many parts
The bishop-elect was leading a parish with similarities to the larger parishes in Jefferson City and Columbia. However, many of the rest of the parishes in the Omaha archdiocese are small, rural, spread out and subject to demographic shifts.
“About two-thirds of our Catholics live in the Omaha metro area,” Archbishop Lucas noted. “But we have 23 counties, and a majority of parishes are in some of the places that have less population and are farther apart.”
Every priest in the archdiocese gave input on how best to draw many of the smaller parishes into “families,” with closer collaboration and the sharing of pastors.
“Our experience has been largely positive, starting with the work of the Holy Spirit,” said Archbishop Lucas. “Seeing where the Lord is calling us led us to make the changes that we needed to make.
“The point is, the Church is not structuring ourselves to go out of business,” he said. “We’re trying to position ourselves to move into the future, given the current realities that are very different from what they were 50 or 100 years ago.”
Out on mission
Bishop-elect O’Donnell served for five years as vice rector and dean of formation at Conception Seminary College in northwestern Missouri, where he had spent four years as a seminarian.
He then served for five years as executive director for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Secretariat for Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations in Washington, D.C.
Preceding him in that role was Archbishop Shawn McKnight of Kansas City in Kansas, who would lead the Jefferson City diocese from 2018 until this year.
In the case of both assignments, Bishop-elect O’Donnell was asked to place his unique gifts and experience at the service of the wider Church.
Archbishop Lucas trusted him to do that.
“He was very valuable here and doing good work,” the archbishop noted. “But it was clear that these were opportunities to serve the Church in a broader context. It seemed to both of us it would be a good thing.”
Tending the flock
Archbishop Lucas was a friend of the late Bishop John R. Gaydos, who led the Jefferson City diocese from 1999 to 2018, and preached the homily at his Funeral Mass this year.
He recognizes some similarities between Bishop-elect O’Donnell and Bishop Gaydos.
“It was clear to me that Bishop Gaydos loved being bishop of Jefferson City and enjoyed his experience of various parishes and various apostolates,” said Archbishop Lucas.
“His delight was to be in-person to people,” he continued. “I think Bishop-elect O’Donnell brings that, too. He loves to be with people and listen and converse.
“He’s just good company,” the archbishop stated. “I think people will enjoy his presence as he will enjoy being with them.”
The bishop-elect has his own unique gifts and experiences, which are part of God’s plan for him to minister in this place and at this time.
“We’re all human, which means not perfect,” Archbishop Lucas noted. “But we’re all able to pray and discern, whatever the circumstances.
“Not simply following a formula in a book,” he continued, “but being a shepherd who truly cares about the people and loves the Lord and in collaboration with others is able to face challenges in a way that keeps the Church fresh and focused on her mission.”
How to help
Archbishop Lucas said prayer and cooperation are the best ways to help Bishop-elect O’Donnell become the leader God wants him to be.
“Pray for him and be generous in sharing your experience of the faith with him,” the archbishop suggested.
What prayer would be best?
“It can include thanks for being able to receive a new bishop, and then can include asking the guidance of the Holy Spirit so that his mind and heart can be formed according to the mind and heart of the Good Shepherd,” said Archbishop Lucas.
