The Archdiocese of San Francisco announces that Pope Francis has today appointed Fr. Robert Christian, O.P., as auxiliary bishop. Fr. Christian is a Friar of the Western Dominican Province and currently serves as Master of Students of the province.
Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone said, “I am overjoyed to welcome Fr. Christian back to his native San Francisco. We first met while studying in Rome some forty years ago and we are now all blessed that Bishop-Elect Christian joins us to serve our priests, religious, deacons and all the people of the Archdiocese. ”Robert Francis Christian was born in San Francisco in 1948 to Robert Francis and Gloria Jean Christian. He was raised in St. Brendan Parish and attended St. Brendan and St. Vincent de Paul grammar schools. In 1966 he graduated from St. Ignatius High School and from Santa Clara University in 1970. That year he entered the Dominican Novitiate in Oakland.
Fr. Christian was ordained in 1976 at St. Francis de Sales Cathedral in Oakland and started his teaching career immediately thereafter at Dominican College. After later receiving his doctorate in theology at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (The Angelicum) in Rome he began a long teaching career there as professor of theology. He is presently a consultor to the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity and a member of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission.
Bishop-Elect Christian said “I am delighted to minister in the area where I was born and raised, and where I have numerous relatives and friends. I know I can count on the prayers of many people, and I am eager to serve the people of the City and Archdiocese that I call home.”
His episcopal ordination is planned to take place at St. Mary’s Cathedral by the beginning of summer.
Sounds like the ‘real deal’ from what it says in this article and from others I have heard from in the Church:)
Yes, let us all pray for him!!
Thank You Lord, we all need more ‘real deals’…..
Born in 1948. Advanced math says the Bishop elect is at or near seventy. So only five years till retirement. Couldn’t the Personnel Department find a qualified younger candidate??
Age DISCRIMINATION?
Seventy is the new sixty!
Perhaps a little delving into what he was teaching during the ’70s and ’80s (and on up) would give us a good idea of his qualifications.
I would rather have an auxillary bishop who knew and lived the faith than a man with charismatic social skills (though I know it is not a matter of either/or!).
The appointment of such an old man as an auxiliary bishop is nothing more than to ease the burden on the ordinary for such things as Confirmations. That’s all that’s going on here.
God Bless Bishop elect Robert Christian, O.P. A wise choice.
If you have a quarter of an hour, do listen to this talk by the bishop-elect. He is a good speaker, not without a subtle sense of humor.
I’m not surprised that he’s a good speaker: he’s a Dominican. :)
The appointment of bishops is an ongoing activity by the local bishop, by the conference of bishops as well. The pipeline is always flowing with considerations of priests for the office of bishop. If archbishop Cordileone presented bishop Christian’s name to fill the office even for a short or a long time, then I have some hope for San Francisco because I have confidence in archbishop Cordileone. Someone else is already being considered for the second auxiliary since SFO has had 2 for a while, and another is being considered for the office after bishop Christian retires.
Perhaps one of his duties will be to help with the formation of young priests at St. Patrick’s Seminary. Which will mean educating up a new crop of prospective bishops.
Does he speak Spanish? If not, then the archdiocese definately needs an additional auxiliary who does. (Although I personally vote for Latin LOL!)
VT .. THe second language of the AD or SF is not Spanish but rather Cantonese.
For us here in the Archdiocese of San Francisco, the languages of China (e.g., Cantonese, Mandarin, etc.) are not so important, as many of these neighbors are not Catholic. Spanish is much more important, here, as it HAS been since Padre Junípero Serra y Ferrer, O.F.M., brought the Catholic Faith and the Spanish language to California. And of course we have tons of Filipino parishioners in our many parishes, but most of them have no trouble with English.
Also, all seminarians for the SF Archdiocese are required to learn Spanish.
I know of a Nigerianriest who is learing Spanish and serves in a parish with a large Spanish speaking population. He says Mass in Spanish.
I know the new bishop personally. He is fluent in English, Italian, French, and Latin.
Opps. I forgot to mention, he is also fluent in Spanish.
I’m convinced that our country needs younger leaders and so does the church. Bishops must submit their resignations at age 75. Why not a rule that they can’t be appointed if they are over 50 years old? I’m sure this is a fine man and will try to do a good job, but I can’t imagine that someone his or my age can understand or be effective with Generation Z. They are so different than the Millennials. I’m taken aback when I’m reminded that this year’s senior high graduates were, for the most part, born in the year 2000.
Teh Gen Z-ers I know would love this bishop. Age is not a factor. This is the generation that has grown up with facts at their fingertips. They want truthful people. People who know what they are talking about.
What! You must be from the “Don’t trust anyone over 30” generation…
Oh, wait… :)
The best loved clergy member where I live is 83.
It does not matter what any one group of untrained, ignorant laymen think, (especially kids!) regarding ordination of priests and bishops– they are unqualified to say! What does Jesus Christ want?
In older and mature cultures, the elders were looked up to, for wisdom! I recall, long ago now, in my twenties, a young Dominican priest once remarking, that he looked forward to someday being age fifty, and well beyond— he said that traditionally, past age fifty, is when you start to mature– and understand the Bible and spiritual life better!
Linda Maria, I knew good older priests when I grew up. Back then knowledge was slowly gained over twenty year spans. Today, we all have info at our finger tips, computers are obsolete when you walk out the door with a new one. How people learn is completely changed from when you and I were in school. Think of today’s high school student who has never not had a smart phone or laptop computer, who could read when they went to first grade, etc. Look at what the kids in Florida did to pull off marches in 800 plus cities with millions of people in the streets. They did it all under our noses on social media. While generations were once twenty years long, today they are 3 months long.
As a millenial, I couldn’t disagree more. Basic education standards are much lower today than they were before I was born. Most of my peers have zero reasoning skills. Smartphones give an unlimited amount of facts, but they will never be able to supply wisdom, experience or a template for placing all these supplied facts into a hierarchy of knowledge.
Yes, I saw this as a high school teacher. Students do not understand, do not reason, cannot spell correctly nor write English with sophistication. They just look things up to fill in blanks and believe doing so gives them knowledge. They do not have contextual understanding of things they “know”. They are lazy and have no patience for the arduous work that attaining true knowledge demands.
You see this played out in demonstrations involving young people. They don’t know how to articulate their points nor debate with opposition. All they can do is chant short slogans of hate against conservatives and then make a mess when they throw a tantrum.
A Millenial, and Anonymous– I strongly agree!
Holiness is the only measure of a Good Bishop