Bishop-elect Nickless finds welcoming spirit in diocese

By RENEE WEBB, Globe editor
November 17, 2005

For Bishop-elect R. Walker Nickless, his time in Sioux City was short but he made it count by visiting as many places in his two days here as possible.

When he arrived on Nov. 9, Msgr. Roger Augustine, diocesan administrator, took him to all but one of the city parishes.

Prior to the 10 a.m. press conference on Nov. 10, he celebrated Mass for the nuns at the Carmelite Monastery in Sioux City.

As he was leaving the monastery he had asked them to pray for good weather on Jan. 20, the day of his Episcopal ordination.

"I had told them that they had been praying for me for almost two years and never even knew it," said Msgr. Nickless.

Following the press conference, the staff of Central Catholic Offices met their future boss at 11 a.m.

The bishop-elect told them this was his first trip to Iowa.

"It is a wonderful city and I'm excited to be here," he said. "There are some good, solid people in Iowa and Sioux City. I'm looking forward to a great time with you."

Msgr. Nickless shared the story as to how he broke the news to his nine siblings. He had called a family meeting on another subject. With all of them living in Denver, they all showed. Earlier, his brother had told him that they needed an agenda.

"So I took the press release and started passing it out to all of my brothers and sisters. Then I took the zucetto that Archbishop Chaput had given to me and gave that to mom. Meanwhile, my brothers and sisters are screaming and laughing, clapping and crying. That's how I broke it to them, they were so excited," he said.

One of his siblings had said great because now they had somewhere to visit.

Msgr. Augustine used the gathering as an opportunity to thank the staff for the work they had done for him.

Bishop-elect's humor shined through when he quipped that were he the boss already, he would have given them the rest of the day off.

After the meeting at the chancery, he celebrated noon Mass at Cathedral of the Epiphany in Sioux City. Seventeen priests of the diocese were on hand to concelebrate.

Msgr. Augustine introduced the bishop-elect to the 100 or so people who were attending the weekday Mass. The Denver priest received a round of applause.

"It takes away my breath, how welcoming everyone has been," said the bishop-elect.

During the homily, the Msgr. Nickless pointed out that his name was Ralph Walker, but all of his life he has been known as Walker. He mentioned that when people hear the name Ralph, they tend to laugh but he was quick to add, "I know a lot of good people with that name."

His sermon centered on Pope Leo the Great, whose feast day was celebrated. He told them that Leo's style of preaching was persuasive and brief, adding that's the way he likes to preach.

He called on the people to look for God's presence in their lives and reminded them that "God is in charge."

"I look forward to being back here on Jan. 20 as I'm ordained a bishop at this beautiful cathedral and I look forward to spending the rest of my life with you as your bishop," said Msgr. Nickless.

His next stop was at 2 p.m. that day at Mater Dei School's Nativity Center in Sioux City. He opened with some brief comments to the 120 sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders.

He told them that they can make a difference.

"I wanted to make sure that I came to this school to tell you that you have a purpose, you are special to us and I hope to be able to spend a lot of time in all of the schools in the Diocese of Sioux City," said Msgr. Nickless.

His talk was followed by a Q&A session. First, he asked the questions. What is the name of the cathedral in Sioux City? What does Epiphany mean? The students got those questions right. What is the name the chair that the bishop's chair? That was a tougher one. The bishop explained the significance of the cathedra.

"I can't sit in that chair yet. I am going to be ordained a bishop on Jan. 20, so I am going to ask you to pray for good weather," said the bishop-elect.

The students also came through with correct answers to what is a bishop and who were the first bishops - the 12 apostles.

"When I am the bishop, I will have to be the leader and shepherd so I will need a lot of help and a lot of prayers," he said.

Then it was the students' chance for questions.

They learned that he likes to snow ski and play racquetball. His favorite food is pizza and color is green. They asked where he went to school, the names of his siblings, his favorite sports team and more.

The students gave him a standing ovation as he left. They gave another one to Msgr. Augustine as Father Jerry Feierfeil, pastor at Nativity Parish, asked them to thank him for doing the work of the bishop.

The bishop-elect's final stop was at Briar Cliff University, the diocese's only Catholic institution for higher education. He watched a video about the university's 75-year history and then received a tour of the campus from Bev Wharton, president of Briar Cliff.

As part of the tour, he visited with students in the campus ministry office and attended a Cliff Singers rehearsal, hearing one of the selections to be part of the Christmas at Cathedral performance in early December.

By 4 p.m. Msgr. Nickless was on his way back to Denver.

The Diocese of Sioux City has received many e-mails about the appointment of Msgr. Nickless.

This is a portion of one from Mary Vulcani of Our Lady of Fatima Parish in the Archdiocese of Denver.

"Upon learning of Monsignor Walker Nickless' appointment as Bishop of Sioux City, Iowa I was overwhelmed by the dual emotions of sorrow and joy. The people of the Sioux City Diocese must have been very good Catholics to receive such a magnificent blessing. Bishop-elect Nickless is a true teacher and leader matched by a tremendously kind and understanding heart. Those of us in the Denver Archdiocese that have been fortunate enough to have Bishop-elect Nickless as our shepherd are better Catholics for it," she wrote.