From the Diocese of St. Cloud website:
The Holy See announced that Pope Francis has appointed Father Patrick Neary, C.S.C., a member of Congregation of Holy Cross, as the 10th bishop of the Diocese of Saint Cloud. His episcopal ordination and installation as bishop of Saint Cloud has been set for Tuesday, Feb. 14. Vespers will take place on Monday, Feb. 13.
The appointment was announced Dec. 15 in Washington by Archbishop Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States. Bishop-elect Neary succeeds Bishop Donald J. Kettler, who will serve as apostolic administrator until Bishop-elect Neary’s installation.
“No one is more surprised than I am to be asked to serve as bishop of the Diocese of St. Cloud,” Bishop-elect Neary said. “Yet I have always trusted that Christ has guided me through every stage of my life as a priest. I so look forward to meeting everyone who is a part of this diocese, my new family. I especially ask God to help me build on the legacy of Bishop Kettler and all the clergy and personnel who serve in the diocese with zeal and devotion. Please pray for me that I can be a faithful and loving servant to all of you.”
Bishop Kettler said he is very excited about the appointment. “Father Neary is tremendously qualified with his experiences as a pastor, seminary rector, formation director and missioner. I am very appreciative that he said yes to the call to serve the people of this diocese as their bishop, and I welcome him warmly to Central Minnesota.”
Bishop-elect Neary was born on March 6, 1963, in La Porte, Indiana, to Jacob and Marybelle Neary. He isthe first-born of six children and has five sisters. His family belongs to St. Joseph Parish in La Porte, where the Neary siblings attended St. Joseph’s Grade School.
He graduated from La Porte High School in 1981 and entered the undergraduate seminary with the Congregation of Holy Cross at the University of Notre Dame. While at Notre Dame, he spent a semester at Anahuac University in Mexico City, where he learned Spanish. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1985 with a bachelor’s degree in history.
After completing his novitiate year in Cascade, Colorado, Bishop-elect Neary began his M.Div. studies in 1986 at the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, California. In 1988, he spent the entire year at the congregation’s seminary in Santiago, Chile, where he practiced his Spanish.
He professed perpetual vows with Congregation of Holy Cross on Sept. 1, 1990, and was ordained a priest at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart at Notre Dame on April 1, 1991, by Bishop Paul Waldschmidt.
