Bishop Jaime Soto on Sept. 11 appointed Lois Locey as the new chancellor of the Diocese of Sacramento. She will begin in her new position on Oct. 29. She succeeds Kathy Conner, who is retiring after serving as chancellor since 2009.
Among her duties, Locey will serve as a member of Bishop Soto’s core management team and cabinet; provide supervision to multiple diocesan directors and their related offices; provide oversight and support to the Presbyteral and Diocesan Pastoral Councils; oversee official diocesan reports and the maintenance of archives and records; and authenticate all official acts of the bishop.
“My whole life has been dedicated to the same central themes of doing ministry and mission well and making them come alive in a personal way,” she said. “It is my hope and prayer to use my leadership skills to assist Bishop Soto in his ministry and serve the Diocese of Sacramento.”
Locey has 27 years of in-depth experience as a chief operating officer of three large parishes which reached national and global prominence relating to ministry effectiveness. She also has more than two decades of diocesan leadership experience in a combination of staff positions and being called upon by individual bishops and regions of bishops in Australia, the Caribbean and around the world for management consulting and training of bishops, priests, deacons, religious staff and lay leaders.
She comes to the diocese after serving as pastoral associate for administration and stewardship at St. Mary Magdalen Parish in central Florida in the Diocese of Orlando. Serving as the chief operating officer, the parish has some 5,700 parishioners, a total annual operating budget of $11.8 million, 143 employees and 3,264 disciple volunteers in more than 185 ministries and services and a PreK-8 school.
Locey previously administered two of the largest parishes in the Archdiocese of Seattle, Wash. She also served as a field consultant to the Seattle Archdiocese’s Department of Planning and Research, working with parishes in transition and in the formation and training of parish pastoral councils and other consultative bodies. In another position with the Catholic Schools Office, she assisted principals with school commissions, relations with parishes, budgeting, evaluations and school development.
As associate director/interim director of parish stewardship for the Diocese of Rockville Centre, NY, her office initiated and implemented a parish-based stewardship movement in the diocese by working together with pastors, their staff and volunteers to promote the vision and practice of “Stewardship as a Way of Life.” The time and talent phase of that campaign was considered to be, at that time, the largest such effort in the history of the Catholic Church in the United States.
Each of the parishes where Locey has served has received awards from the International Catholic Stewardship Council (ICSC) for having both the most outstanding total stewardship effort and materials. Over a 26-year period, she has presented at 28 training conferences conducted by the ICSC on a wide variety of ministry topics. She also won an award for the best idea to improve parish finances from the Finance Council Forum.
Locey earned a Doctor of Ministry degree from The Catholic University of America in 2017, with an emphasis on pastoral leadership, church growth, stewardship and increasing the quality of ministry. She also holds a master’s degree in pastoral ministry through a joint program from Gonzaga University (Jesuit) and the University of Portland (Congregation of Holy Cross) and a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Washington’s Graduate School of Public Affairs, with an emphasis on nonprofit management and educational administration. She holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Loyola University in Chicago.
A native of the Chicago area, Locey and her husband have been married for 20 years. Together they have been supporters of the work of St. Teresa of Calcutta and her Missionaries of Charity for more than 20 years. Among her hobbies are hiking and completing 11 half or full marathons since 2008.
Full story at Diocese of Sacramento.
It’s all the rage for California bishops to hire female chancellors now, isn’t it?
Yes it is in liberal dioceses.
Bishop Soto is liberal?
C&H,
Bishop Soto is sort of hard to pin-down. He appears to be ecclesiastically orthodox but secularly liberal.
Like Soto and Gomez are made from the same mold.
Hardly, women can by Canon law be appointed. Pick.Your battles. Given the scandal we need more faithful laity involved.
Garrett, your comment could be taken as sexist by some people. This woman’s credentials are much more impressive than most people who work in that position. Most people have reached the point in their thinking and life that there no longer is a set of jobs for men and another set for women. Except for Priest and Deacon, there isn’t a job in the Catholic Church that can’t be done by a woman.
Bob One “Garrett, your comment could be taken as sexist by some people” should he be sent to a liberal re-education camp? Bob One, your political correctness is one reason why I come after you on this site.
A chancellor is the chief record-keeper of a diocese. The chancellor keeps the official archives of the diocese, as a notary certifies documents, and generally manages the administrative offices (and sometimes finances and personnel) of a diocese. They have no jurisdictional authority.
So what?
It’s great to see such a competent lay person appointed to a position of leadership in the Diocese of Sacramento. The Church needs more women in leadership positions. Good for Bishop Soto!
Another gal who wants to play clergy! Between clergy who are attracted to post-pubescent males & these career gals & soft-bishops, we have a huge problem,
Irishsmile,
I’d go easy on both Bishop Soto and the new chancellor. As with most rural dioceses, Bishop Soto has difficulty finding enough priests to staff his parishes. Also, keep in mind that the chancellor doesn’t have to be ordained and his previous chancellor was also female.
Rural? Sacramento is the seat of California’s politics.
Anonymous,
Yes, it does seem strange, but it’s true. The Diocese of Sacramento is very similar to the Diocese of Fresno. Both have small metro areas and both cover large geographical areas. If I have my facts right, Sacramento is slightly large than Fresno geographically. It covers the territory from Sacramento to the Oregon state line minus the coastal areas.
Sacramento is the Capital of California, but the Diocese spreads to the Oregon border. In some counties in the north end of the state, it takes two to three hours to get to a big town. It is a rural diocese when you get out of the Sacramento area.
Yes, dear Anonymous, rural. The Sacramento metropolitan area is but a dot on the map of the Diocese which stretches north to the Oregon border and east to the Nevada line. Parts of the diocese are closer to Idaho than Sacramento as the crow flies.
Grow up, not all clerics or laity want to switch roles and we are not living in 1870. And by the way those who defend some of these appt celebrate the Old Liturgy so we are not raging liberals.
“The Church needs more women in leadership positions.” Along with their gay counter-parts they can make the Church a completely feminized institution where any normal man will avoid like the plague.
I agree whole heartedly. The Church is being wrecked by sodomites and feminists. The Blessed Mother would not approve
Not regarding sodomites but what makes you think this woman is “liberal” and how do you know the mind of the Mother of God or her Son?
Why not, if they are qualified? Mrs. Locey certainly has impressive credentials. I assume the Bishop and others found these and other factors relevant to the position.
Last summer she appeared at the Convocation of Catholic Leaders, which in retrospect reads like a who’s who of unfaithful bishops and the CRS/Notre Dame elite.
How sad! And must the Church be treated as a mere secular social service agency– with secular “MBA”-style business leadership? How about even a traditional nun in a much-respected traditional habit– like Mother Angelica–or else, a much-respected, holy lay woman, with lifetime obligations in a lay religious order?? Where is the Catholic Faith, with RELIGIOUS leadership??
I agree with Mike and others above that Mrs Locey comes highly credentialed. Seems to me that experience and training should be the priorities, not someone’s gender.
For a moment, I thought I was reading an article in the Wall Street Journal.
Sad that our Dioceses have aped giant corporations, replete with credentialed bureaucrats. Our Lord chose simple uncredentialed men to be His Apostles. He didn’t charge them to start “programs”, “councils”, “boards” and “committees”. Time to split up and downscale, and put less distance between the Bishop and his people. And maybe save a bundle of money, too.
If the Mass and the Sacraments are not at the center of the “ministry and mission” of the church, then this appointment makes perfect sense.
I hope she reads recent news stories about Bishop Soto and knows what she’s getting herself into. #RepentAndResign
https://resignunfaithfulbishops.blogspot.com/2018/08/church-militant-ca-bishop-jaime-soto.html
Need a more credible source.
Gerald,
I agree with Anonymous. The stories seem to be a blend of fact and fiction which makes the truth difficult to decipher.
Bohemond: a healthy “normal man” can handle women being in leadership positions just as “normal women” have endured for many years men being in leadership positions both inside and outside of the Church. It is not normal to think that men have a monopoly on leadership abilities.
What is not normal dear Alice is we have a Church infested with gay men and feminist. Unlike men you know I am not some neutered little man. I detest feminism and gays both blight on the Church and have proven it so, just talk a look at the news. I reject feminism and poison it has caused to families and society in General. Go back to your women studies class ie man hating class.
Bohemond: I learned in a logic course many years ago that one should not assume things about people one doesn’t know – it makes one look foolish. After earning advanced degrees in economics and business administration, never took a course in Women’s Studies, I’ve worked in the private sector for 30+ years. By the way, I have remained a faithful and practicing Catholic since my youth. I avoid very few people- mostly those who are arrogant, small-minded and overly sarcastic.