Calvert House would like to extend its warm congratulations and prayerful best wishes to Bishop-elect Jeffrey S. Grob, Bishop-elect Kevin M. Birmingham, and Bishop-elect Robert J. Lombardo, CFR — three new auxiliary bishops Pope Francis has appointed for the Archdiocese of Chicago. Each of the three new auxiliary bishops has a unique relationship with our Calvert House community.
Bishop-elect Jeffrey S. Grob was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Chicago by Cardinal Joseph Bernardin on May 23, 1992. He earned a master of divinity degree in 1992 from the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary, where he was also awarded a Licentiate in Sacred Theology in 1999. Bishop-elect Grob earned a Licentiate in Canon Law and a doctorate in Canon Law from St. Paul University in Ottawa, Ontario, in 2000 and 2007, respectively. He earned a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Ottawa in Ottawa, Ontario, also in 2007. Bishop-elect Grob served in parishes as resident and assistant pastor at SS. Faith, Hope and Charity Parish, Winnetka, from 1992 to 1998, and as a weekend assistant at St. Basil Parish in Ottawa, Ontario, from 1998 to 2002. He was pastor of St. Celestine Parish in Elmwood Park from 2008 to 2013. He has served the Archdiocese in many positions, including Assistant Chancellor from 1994 to 1998, judge on the Court of Appeals from 2003 to 2013, judicial vicar from 2013 to 2015, chancellor from 2015 to 2017, Archbishop’s Delegate to the Independent Review Board from 2010 to the present, Archbishop’s Liaison to Lay Ecclesial Movements and New Communities from 2015 to the present, and Judicial Vicar and Vicar for Canonical Affairs from 2017 to the present. Bishop-elect Grob has celebrated weekend Masses regularly at Calvert House for several years, especially at the Sunday 5:00 pm Mass, and is well-known and loved by the Calvert House community.
Bishop-elect Kevin M. Birmingham was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Chicago by Cardinal Francis George on May 24, 1997. He served as associate pastor of St. Benedict Parish in Blue Island, Ill., and St. Peter Claver Mission in Robbins, Ill., from 1997 to 2001 and of St. Francis of Assisi in Orland Park, Ill., from 2001 to 2005. He was pastor of St. Anne Parish in Hazel Crest, Ill., from 2005 to 2011 and of Maternity BVM Parish in Chicago from 2011 to 2014. He has served the archdiocese as a member of the Presbyteral Council and Priests’ Placement Board and as dean of Deanery III-A. He was administrative secretary to Cardinal Cupich from November 2014 to June 2020, when he assumed directorship of the archdiocese’s Department of Parish Vitality and Mission. Since Calvert House is an Agency of the Department of Parish Vitality and Mission, Bishop-elect Birmingham has been a vital support for the work of Calvert House in his role as Director of that Department.
Bishop-elect Robert Lombardo, C.F.R. began his formation as a Capuchin friar in 1980, when he entered St. Francis Friary in Garrison, N.Y. He professed his Capuchin first vows in 1981 at the Mary Immaculate Friary in Garrison, N.Y., and his Capuchin final vows in 1986 at Sacred Heart Church in Yonkers, N.Y. He was ordained to the priesthood on May 12, 1990, by Cardinal John O’Connor at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, New York, N.Y., and is a founding member of his community, the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal (CFR). Bishop-elect Lombardo came to Chicago in 2005 at the request of Cardinal George to establish a mission outreach to the poor at Mission of Our Lady of the Angels on the city’s West Side. He is the founder and superior of the Franciscans of the Eucharist of Chicago. The mission, located in West Humboldt Park operates food and clothing pantries, conducts afterschool, family and senior citizens’ programming and hosts retreats, Bible camps and religious education classes. Students of Calvert House have volunteered at the Mission of Our Lady of the Angels in recent years, and have established a connection with Bishop-elect Lombardo and the Franciscans of the Eucharist of Chicago in that context.
The episcopal ordination of the bishops-elect will take place on the feast of St. Francis Xavier Cabrini, November 13, 2020. We will share the details of the live-stream of that liturgy with our wider community when they become available.
We extend to Bishop-elect Jeffrey S. Grob, Bishop-elect Kevin M. Birmingham, and Bishop-elect Robert J. Lombardo, CFR our prayers and best wishes as they serve the Archdiocese as Auxiliary Bishops, and serve the Church as Successors of the Apostles. Ad multos annos!
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