Events during Bishop Brennan’s tenure in Columbus diocese

2019

Jan. 19 – While driving on the Long Island Expressway, Auxiliary Bishop Robert Brennan of the Diocese of Rockville Centre, New York, is informed in a phone call from Archbishop Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States, that Pope Francis has chosen him to be the next bishop of the Diocese of Columbus, succeeding the retiring Bishop Frederick Campbell.

Jan. 31 – Bishop Brennan’s appointment is announced at a news conference in Columbus.

March 29 – Bishop Brennan is installed as the 12th bishop of Columbus at St. Joseph Cathedral, following a prayer service there the previous evening. The most memorable moment of the installation comes when the bishop walks throughout the cathedral displaying the document appointing him bishop for all to see.

March 30-April 1— The bishop administers the sacrament of confirmation on March 30 at Zanesville St. Nicholas Church, March 31 at Columbus St. Dominic Church and April 1 at Columbus St. Patrick Church. He also celebrates Mass on March 31 at Columbus St. Stephen the Martyr Church. During the next 2 ½ years, he travels 50,000 miles in his Ford Fusion throughout the 23-county diocese, visiting all of its parishes, schools and institutions.  

May 3 – Frank Brown, Michael Fulton, Seth Keller and Gordon Mott are ordained as deacons for the diocese.

May 25 – Fathers Brian Beal, PJ Brandimarti, Kyle Tennant and Christopher Yakkel are ordained as diocesan priests.

June 19 – The diocesan Catholic Ethnic Ministries office sponsors a listening session at the Pontifical College Josephinum to discuss racial concerns within the Church.

June 29 – The Latino ministry of the diocesan Catholic Ethnic Ministries office hosts a V Encuentro Diocesan Day at Pickerington St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish.

July – Father David Schalk, pastor of Columbus Christ the King Church, is appointed diocesan vicar for Hispanic ministry, a new position; Father Stash Dailey, pastor of Columbus Holy Family Church, is appointed diocesan vicar for religious.

Aug. 5 – Father Michael Lumpe is appointed vice rector for the College of Liberal Arts at the Josephinum, continuing as diocesan vicar for priests; Father Adam Streitenberger is appointed diocesan evangelization coordinator, a new position; Deacon Frank Iannarino is appointed deacon administrator of Columbus St. John the Baptist Church, the first deacon to fill that role in a diocesan parish.

September – The bishop appoints a task force to review the diocese’s safe environment practices.

Sept. 14 – Eugene Joseph is ordained as a deacon of the diocese.

Sept. 30-Oct. 3 – Bishop Brennan and the priests of the diocese gather for a convocation at Maumee Bay State Park near Toledo.

October – School and parish representatives meet at conferences in New Albany, Danville and Chillicothe to discuss creating a culture of safety in schools and churches.

Dec. 9-14 – Bishop Brennan and other bishops from Ohio and Michigan travel to the Vatican for their ad limina visit with the pope.

December – Sisters from the Order of the Most Holy Savior of St. Bridget (the Bridgettines) announce plans to build a house of hospitality next to their convent in Columbus’ Franklinton neighborhood.

2020

Jan. 17 – The diocese sponsors a conference at Gahanna St. Matthew Church on evangelizing the millennial generation.

February – Plans to close St. Therese’s Retreat Center in Columbus and the Sts. Peter and Paul Retreat Center in Newark as retreat sites are announced. The sites are being converted to other uses.

Feb. 26 – Zanesville St. Thomas Aquinas Church announces plans to close for a structural evaluation after being declared unsafe by officials of the Mid-East Ohio Building Department.

Mid-March – The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic begin to be felt throughout the diocese and the nation. The Catholic bishops of Ohio announce the suspension of all public Masses and other parish activities through at least Easter Sunday, April 12, and suspend all of the state’s Catholics from the obligation of attending Sunday Masses though the end of March. All schools in Ohio are closed by order of the state Department of Education. Many parishes begin livestreaming at least one Sunday Mass. St. Gabriel Radio begins broadcasting the cathedral’s Sunday 10:30 a.m. and weekday 12:05 p.m. Masses. The Catholic Foundation creates an emergency response fund to provide immediate and flexible assistance to diocesan parishes.

April 2 – Ohio’s bishops extend the suspension of public Masses and parish activities and of the Sunday Mass attendance obligation through May 3.

Early April – About 50 diocesan priests receive training to safely provide end-of-life sacramental care during the pandemic. 

April 5-12 – Holy Week activities at the cathedral are broadcast live by St. Gabriel Radio, and the 10:30 a.m. Easter Sunday Mass is televised live on WCMH-TV in Columbus.

Mid-April – The diocesan development office sets up an online giving program, A Time for Extreme Charity, through the diocesan website.

April 15 – Because of the pandemic, Stephen Ondrey is ordained a deacon of the Diocese of Columbus at St. John XXIII National Seminary in Weston, Massachusetts, where he is studying for the priesthood.

April 28 – The state’s bishops extend the suspension of public Masses and of the Sunday Mass obligation through May 29.

May 11 – Churches begin to reopen for brief periods of prayer, Eucharistic Adoration and the sacrament of reconciliation.

May 25 – Some churches begin to reopen for daily Mass, followed on May 30 and 31, Pentecost weekend, by the resumption of Masses at all churches. Those in attendance are required to wear masks and observe safe distancing and hand sanitation practices; music is limited; holy water is unavailable; and suspension of the Sunday Mass attendance obligation is extended until Sept. 13.  

 Late May and early June – The death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25 results in protests in Columbus and nationwide. Demonstrators in downtown Columbus damage buildings; the outer glass of two windows in the Chancery garage is the only damage to diocesan buildings. Bishop Brennan on May 29 invites everyone in the diocese “to join together in this effort to forge a path built with the pavers of justice and reverence for every human life toward a harmony that allows us to enjoy a peaceful future for our children and for all ages to come.”

June 12 – Jacob Stinnett is ordained as a deacon of the diocese. 

June 13 – Fathers Frank Brown, Michael Fulton and Seth Keller are ordained as priests of the diocese.  

July – The Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, who have four sisters living at Chillicothe St. Mary Church, announce plans to open a convent in the former Columbus St. Aloysius Church rectory.

July 14 – Father Michael Hartge is appointed vice chancellor of the diocese, and Father William Hahn succeeds Father Paul Noble as diocesan vocations director. The Pallottine Fathers assume pastoral care of Columbus St. Christopher Church.

July 15 – Laura Lewis is appointed interim victims’ assistance coordinator for the diocese. The appointment is one of several recommendations made by the safe environment task force formed the previous September.

Aug. 16 – The Catholic Times announces that it will move to a year-round biweekly schedule. Ohio’s bishops indefinitely extend the dispensation of the obligation to attend Sunday Mass.
 
Aug. 24-31 – All diocesan schools reopen for classes. Some are open to all students at all times, while others offer a blend of distance and in-person learning. Students have the option to learn at home, but most return to school buildings. 

September – Sister Zephrina Mary Gracykutty, FIH, becomes director of the diocesan Missions office, succeeding Leandro “Lany” Tapay, who retired after 13 years in the position. The Sisters of the Missionary Servants of the Word open a formation house in the former Columbus Corpus Christi Church for young women considering religious life.

Sept. 1 – The Dominican Nuns of the Perpetual Rosary, a contemplative order with 14 sisters, relocate from Buffalo, New York, to the former Sts. Peter and Paul Retreat Center in Newark, which will be their temporary home while options for a permanent monastery are considered.

Sept. 24 – The diocese observes the Feast of Our Lady of Mercy as a day of prayer and penance for healing and conversion.

Sept. 27 – Two members of the Sister Servants of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus take up residence in the Columbus Sacred Heart Church convent.

Sept. 28 – The bishop issues a document declaring that on Jan. 1, New Boston St. Monica and Wheelersburg St. Peter in Chains churches will be merged, with their care entrusted to the pastor of St. Peter in Chains, and that West Portsmouth Our Lady of Sorrows, Otway Our Lady of Lourdes and Pond Creek Holy Trinity churches also will merge, with their care entrusted to the pastor of Holy Trinity, which will become a mission of Portsmouth St. Mary Church. All the Catholic churches in Scioto County – Holy Trinity, St. Peter in Chains and Portsmouth St. Mary and Holy Redeemer – will have one pastor.

Sept. 30 – Two Sisters of Our Lady of Kilimanjaro arrive at the Columbus St. Ladislas Church convent.

Oct. 2 – Columbus St. Leo Church comes under the direction of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest, is renamed St. Leo the Great Oratory and becomes the new home of the Columbus Latin Mass community.

Nov. 7 – Deacons Daniel Dowler, Victor Nduaguba, James Elchert, Jesus Figueroa Jr., Jeffrey Hurdley, Nicholas Klear, Mark O’Loughlin, Christopher Walsh, Eric Wright and Douglas Yglesias are ordained as deacons of the diocese.

Dec. 12 – Archbishop Pierre, the apostolic nuncio, is the homilist for a two-hour celebration of the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe at the cathedral, conducted entirely in Spanish and televised live on WCMH-TV, which also presents the cathedral’s 10:30 a.m. Christmas Day Mass on a tape-delayed basis.

2021

Feb. 17 – On Ash Wednesday, the diocese begins 40 Days of Adoration, with a different parish hosting Eucharistic Adoration every day through Palm Sunday, March 28.

Feb. 27-28 – The diocese launches Real Presence Real Future, a three-year planning initiative aimed at increasing the presence of Christ throughout the diocese and upholding the faith for future generations.

March 29 – During Reconciliation Monday, part of the Real Presence Real Future initiative, priests are available for confession at nearly every diocesan parish.

April 12 – WCMH-TV televises the cathedral’s 10:30 a.m. Easter Sunday Mass.

May – Plans are announced for Unity in Community: Courageous Conversations, a six-session program giving parishes an opportunity for an in-depth dialogue on racism and cultural sensitivity.

May 29 – Fathers Stephen Ondrey and Jacob Stinnett are ordained as priests of the diocese.

June 5-6 – Ohio’s bishops reinstate the obligation to attend Masses on Sundays and holy days of obligation for those physically able to do so.

July and August – Two in-person and four virtual sessions throughout the diocese give parishioners a chance to ask questions and offer comments about the Real Presence Real Future initiative. Father Tomas Carvahal, CR, is assigned to Dover St. Joseph and Zoar Holy Trinity churches, becoming the Theatine order’s first priest in the diocese. Two other Theatine priests are to be assigned to Columbus Christ the King Church. All three Theatines will serve the Hispanic communities in their areas.   

 July 1 – Father Michael Hartge is appointed the diocese’s moderator of the Curia, and Matthew Schlater its chief operating officer, both new positions. William Davis, diocesan finance director, is appointed chief financial officer.

July 22 – Father Eugene Joseph is ordained as a priest of the diocese. The ordination takes place in Birmingham, England, where he has remained since being called to return there in November to await approval of a change in his immigration status.  

Aug. 1 – Jerry Freewalt, director of the diocesan Office for Social Concerns, becomes executive director of the Catholic Conference of Ohio, succeeding Carolyn Jurkowitz, who retires after 34 years.

Aug. 27-28 – The diocese hosts a two-day Eucharistic Gathering, with a prayer service in the cathedral on Aug. 27 and a Mass plus two talks by Archbishop Nelson Perez of Philadelphia at Columbus St. Charles Preparatory School on Aug. 28. 

Late August – The Salesian Sisters of St. John Bosco begin serving at Columbus St. Francis DeSales High School.

September to November – Each diocesan parish hosts two, two-hour consultation sessions to discuss the Real Presence Real Future initiative.

Sept. 20 – Bishop Brennan receives a call from Archbishop Pierre announcing that after 2½ years in Columbus, he has been selected to become the eighth bishop of the Diocese of Brooklyn, New York, succeeding retiring Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio.

Sept. 29 – The Holy See announces Bishop Brennan’s new appointment.

Nov. 9 – The Museum of Catholic Art and History, formerly the Jubilee Museum and Catholic Cultural Center, reopens in The Catholic Foundation’s building across from the cathedral. It had been closed since August 2019 because of deteriorating conditions at its previous location, the former Columbus Holy Family School, and because of the pandemic.  

Nov. 30 – Bishop Brennan is to be installed as bishop of Brooklyn.