No one was more surprised to receive a call from the apostolic nuncio, (Cardinal-designate Christophe Pierre) then Bishop Edward Lohse. So surprised in fact that he hung up twice, not recognizing the Washington, D.C., phone number and assuming it was a spam call. He then received a text message from the Nuncio asking him to call him back. Bishop Lohse laughed when recounting this story to diocesan staff gathered on the day the Holy Father announced he had appointed the priest from the Diocese of Erie as the fifth bishop for the Diocese of Kalamazoo.
The date of the Ordination and Installation Mass was set for Tuesday, July 25, the Feast of the Apostle St. James, and diocesan staff, along with a host of volunteers, began to prepare for their new Shepherd.
Meanwhile, Bishop Lohse had his own preparations to do. He was still Vicar General for the Diocese of Erie, Pastor of St. Julia Parish in Erie and now Bishop-elect for his newly appointed diocese. In the weeks leading up to his ordination he was busy finishing up his work, even getting in a trip to Rome to buy his
“bishop gear” and make a retreat to one of his favorite destinations, Assisi.
Additionally, he was readying to leave the home he had known his entire life, including the farm that has been in his family for 76 years where he liked to tinker with the vintage tractor and tend to the grape vines and apple trees.
WHAT WAS RACING THROUGH YOUR MIND WHEN YOU RECEIVED THAT CALL FROM THE NUNCIO?
Bishop: It was more of a statement from the nuncio: “The Holy Father has appointed you the Bishop of Kalamazoo.” I have always approached my life as a priest with the principle, ask for nothing, refuse nothing. I learned long ago that God and the Church know better than I do where I ought to be. So, these are
my instructions, and I report for duty.
WHERE YOU GREW UP IN ERIE SHARES SOME SIMILARITIES WITH SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN — IN PARTICULAR THE LAKESHORE AREA. TELL US ABOUT THE AREA AND YOUR FAMILY.
Bishop: The agriculture near the Erie lakeshore is similar to that in southwest
Michigan — lots of fruit, etc. — that changes, of course, the more inland you go. The farm I grew up on has been in the family for 76 years. Though I want to clarify it’s not a working farm; most of the fields have grown into woods, and the last time they were plowed was 1951. We always had a big garden and chickens.
Dad was a welder and my mom was a stay-at-home mom. She actually was born in Blufton, Indiana; Mom was very proud to be a Hoosier — [she] moved to Pennsylvania when she was seven. My father’s family had been in Erie since 1881, when they moved from Saxony, Germany — the Dresden area. Dad’s side was mostly Lutheran with the exception of my grandmother, who was Catholic and from Bavaria.
IN HIS HOMILY AT YOUR ORDINATION MASS, ARCHBISHOP VIGNERON TALKED ABOUT LEARNING FROM YOUR SISTER THAT YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO BE A PRIEST. DID YOU HAVE A MOMENT WHEN THAT WAS MOST EVIDENT TO YOU?
Bishop: As far back as I remember, [the idea] was always there. There were times when that was one of a number of possibilities.
SUCH AS?
Bishop: Oh, I was interested in archeology, biological research — I liked the idea of working in a lab — farming, teaching. When I was in first grade, Sister Loretta Ann asked each of us what we wanted to do when we grew up. I remember it clearly, I said, priest, teacher, fireman and the guy who drives the railroad
locomotive. I became a teacher and a priest. And when I started working in the chancery [in Erie] one of my friends joked that I was now “putting out fires,” which meant I became a fireman of sorts. Now I just have to drive a locomotive.
MANY VOCATIONS BEGIN IN THE HOME; HOW WAS YOUR FAMILY’S FAITH LIFE INFLUENTIAL?
Bishop: Well, I had an uncle who was a priest. And my parents were very active in the parish. [They volunteered] with the annual appeal, for example. Often after Mass we were in the sacristy and my father would be talking to the pastor. I also remember my mother lighting a candle every Sunday because my brother was in Vietnam — those are the things that come to mind.
AFTER YOU WERE ORDAINED (APRIL 21, 1989) WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST ASSIGNMENT AS A NEWLY ORDAINED PRIEST?
Bishop: I taught for five years at DuBois Central Catholic Middle
and High School in DuBois, Pa.
WHAT SUBJECTS DID YOU TEACH?
Bishop: Theology, Latin and German. I loved it. It was hard work.
AFTER THAT ASSIGNMENT YOU BECAME THE VOCATIONS DIRECTOR FOR THE DIOCESE, A ROLE YOU HELD FOR A TOTAL OF 13 YEARS.
Bishop: In 1995 I was assigned as Vocation Director; I had other diocesan jobs as well and then around 1999 the bishop was saying, “I need someone to study Canon Law. I want you to go study Canon Law. “So, they sent me to study Canon Law. That was 2000-2002 — an interruption to my vocations work. In 2002 when I
returned to the diocese, I was reappointed Vocations Director, a job I held until
2010, and in that time was also appointed Vice Chancellor and then Chancellor.
DID YOU EVER KEEP COUNT OF THE NUMBER OF PRIESTS ORDAINED DURING YOUR TIME AS VOCATIONS DIRECTOR?
Bishop: Not really the number; however, there’s a large swath of priests of Erie that I admitted to the seminary. And many of those priests as well as the directees from Rome were here.
YOUR STINT AWAY FROM THE DIOCESE OF ERIE INCLUDED AN APPOINTMENT TO THE CONGREGATION FOR THE CLERGY IN THE ROMAN CURIA — THE VATICAN OFFICES. WHAT WAS THAT TIME LIKE?
Bishop: There were three major things I was doing while in Rome; my employment was for the Congregation for the Clergy; I was also an adjunct faculty member at the North American College and a spiritual director for those students; and I was also working on my doctorate in Canon Law.
AND WITHIN THOSE YEARS YOU HAD SOME CONNECTIONS TO PRIESTS IN KALAMAZOO.
Bishop: Yes, Father Max Nightingale and Father Jeff Hanley were seminarians when I was an adjunct professor at the North American College. Also, Msgr. Michael Osborn was working at the Vatican in the Propagation of the Faith during those years. We both lived at a house called Villa Stritch, which is for United States diocesan priests that work at the Holy See.
WHAT WAS IT LIKE TO BE AT THE HOLY SEE WHEN POPE BENEDICT ANNOUNCED HIS RETIREMENT?
Bishop: It was shocking. I found out about it within an hour and a half of his announcement. We had the day off — Feb. 11 — it’s the day the modern Vatican City State was created in 1929 — so it’s a Vatican holiday. I was home that day — it was a Monday — I was working on my thesis in my room. The pope had something going on, which was the event where he announced his resignation. I went downstairs to lunch, and I knew nothing about it. One of my friends said, “What were you doing this morning?” I replied that I was working on my thesis. He said, “The pope announced his resignation,” to which I said, “What?!”
SO, YOU WERE RIGHT THERE DURING THE ELECTION OF POPE FRANCIS AS WELL.
Bishop: Yes, actually I just happened to be in [St. Peter’s] square. We had just finished Vespers — I was working at the seminary that evening — and we went down to the square anticipating that we would see smoke though not knowing what color, and lo and behold it was white smoke! We were standing in the square as well when the announcement came, and they said the name and we looked at each other and said, “Who?” About eight feet away from us was an American Jesuit and he said, “That’s the archbishop of Buenos Aires.”
SO, BEING A MEMBER OF THE ROMAN CURIA DID YOU HAVE MUCH INTERACTION WITH POPE FRANCIS?
Bishop: I met him four times. The members of our office met him; he came to the office at one point and visited the dicastery.
SO AFTER YOUR FIVE YEARS IN ROME, IT WAS BACK TO THE DIOCESE OF ERIE IN 2016.
Bishop: Yes, when I came back to Erie Bishop Persico appointed me Vicar for Canonical Concerns, and then I was named Vicar General. I was also appointed the Pastor of St. Julia Parish in October 2022.
WHAT ARE SOME WAYS YOU LIKE TO UNWIND?
Bishop: I find manual labor relaxing and therapeutic. I like to tinker and fix things. I love to read novels — I just don’t do a whole lot [of that] anymore — don’t even know where to start — part of that is it’s hard to justify reading a novel when there’s so much reading I should be doing. I watch TV to relax — I love sci-fi.
WHAT ARE YOUR FIRST IMPRESSIONS AND HOPES FOR THE FUTURE?
Bishop: There are graces and blessings that await here. I’m excited about the ministry and have already met many wonderful people and the wonderful staff.
Well, what I would hope to accomplish is to assist the people of this diocese to come to a deeper love of Christ and a deeper commitment to following him as his disciples. Everything else is commentary.