We have a bishop.
Just after 3 p.m. on Sept. 5, Bishop Nelson Perez was escorted to the cathedra, the official chair of the bishop, in the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist. That marked the beginning of his tenure as the 11th Bishop of Cleveland.
Prior to that ceremony, hundreds of ecumenical and interfaith, lay associations and organizations, deacons and priests processed along Superior Avenue onto East Ninth Street and into the cathedral. A second procession that included about 50 bishops and archbishops followed the same route into the cathedral until a sudden downpour occurred, causing them to seek shelter in the cathedral vestibule.
Cincinnati Archbishop Dennis Schnurr served as presider until Bishop Perez was installed. Archbishop Christophe Pierre, the papal nuncio, read the letter of appointment from Pope Francis, which then was presented to Bishop Perez, who showed it to Sister Therese Guerin Sullivan, diocesan chancellor, the College of Consultors and others in the cathedral before the bishop was handed his crosier and escorted to the cathedra.
The liturgy continued with the singing of the Gloria, a reading in Spanish and English and the Gospel, followed by the homily.
?God is good all the time and all the time God is good,? said Bishop Perez.
?Throughout the last several weeks, since the announcement of my appointment as the 11th Bishop of Cleveland by Pope Francis, I?ve been asked over and over again: How do you feel? Do you have a plan? What do you hope for?? he said.
Bishop Perez summed up the first question in two words: joy and gratitude. He said that is how he felt when Pope Francis asked him to serve as the Bishop of Cleveland and to share his vision for the Church. He also expressed gratitude to Archbishop Pierre for his support and kindness, as well as his predecessors Bishops emeriti Richard Lennon and Anthony Pilla and Auxiliary Bishop emeritus Roger Gries. A special thank-you was directed to Toledo Bishop Daniel Thomas who did double duty serving as the Apostolic Administrator of Cleveland while also fulfilling his own vocation as Bishop of Toledo.
