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Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Bishop-designate Bruce Lewandowski will be ordained a bishop Aug. 18 at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Homeland. (Courtesy Archdiocese of Baltimore)

Bishop Lewandowski’s ordination events, curtailed by pandemic restrictions, include livestreams


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Catholic Review Filed Under: Bishop Lewandowski, Feature, Local News, News

Two events will welcome the newest auxiliary bishop of Baltimore to his new ministry this week. Due to restrictions on gatherings during the coronavirus pandemic, the events are not open to the public but will be livestreamed via several outlets.

Clergy and religious of the archdiocese will join Archbishop William E. Lori and Bishop-designate Bruce A. Lewandowski, C.Ss.R., for vespers Aug. 17, 6:30 p.m., at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Homeland. 

Bishop-designate Lewandowski will preach the homily during the prayer service on the eve of his ordination as a bishop.

The vespers service will be livestreamed from the cathedral on YouTube and Facebook and on the archdiocesan website.

The Mass of Ordination for the new auxiliary bishop will take place Aug. 18, at 2 p.m. at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen and will be celebrated by Archbishop William E. Lori. 

The procession will begin at 1:50 p.m. and will include 10 bishops, and more than two dozen priests. 

Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R., of the Archdiocese of Newark, N.J. – also a member of the Redemptorist religious order, as is Bishop-designate Lewandowski – will concelebrate. Pope Francis will be represented by Monsignor Josef Forró on behalf of the pope’s representative to the United States, the apostolic nuncio, Archbishop Christophe Pierre.

Archbishop Lori will preach the homily at the Mass before laying on hands and anointing the new bishop. Bishop Lewandowski will make remarks in English, Spanish and Portuguese later in the Mass.

As part of the rite of ordination to the order of bishop – the highest rank of ordination in the Catholic Church – the archbishop and other bishops will lay their hands on the new bishop, and he will be presented with the insignia of his office: 

  • A crosier, to symbolize a shepherd’s staff, reminding the bishop that he is to guard his flock. Bishop Lewandowski will have two crosiers available to him, one a gift from his family and another a gift from the Redemptorist province of which he has been a member.
  • A ring, to symbolize the bishop’s marriage to the church. Bishop Lewandowski’s ring, a gift from his mother, Frances Lewandowski, is made of silver and brass, and is adorned with a crucifix. 
  • a miter, a ceremonial headdress worn during liturgies and some other functions.

Bishops also wear a pectoral cross. Bishop-designate Lewandowski will have two available for him. The first was given to him by Archbishop Lori just after the announcement of his appointment as auxiliary bishop. The second is a gift from his family.

At the end of the Mass, Bishop Lewandowski will process around the cathedral to give his first blessings as a bishop.

The ordination Mass will be livestreamed on:

Later in the week, five men will be ordained priests for the Archdiocese of Baltimore in a Mass at the cathedral. They were to have been ordained June 20, but the rite which was pushed back to Aug. 22 by the coronavirus pandemic.

Email Christopher Gunty at editor@catholicreview.org

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