On Thursday, December 15, the Holy See announced that Pope Francis has named Fr. Patrick Neary, C.S.C., as the new Bishop of the Diocese of St. Cloud in Minnesota in the United States. His Mass of Ordination and Installation will be held on February 14, 2023. Bishop-Elect Neary is a member of the United States Province of Priests and Brothers and was serving as Pastor of Holy Redeemer Parish in Portland, Oregon, at the time of his appointment.
“Having personally known him for several years, I can attest that Bishop-elect Neary is a true son of Blessed Basile Moreau. He is a prayerful man who knows Jesus Christ, who loves the Church, and who is filled with apostolic zeal to make God known, loved, and served,” said Br. Paul Bednarcyzk, C.S.C., Superior General. “Bishop-elect Neary has always led with pastoral sensitivity and with great integrity. I am confident that he will continue his same leadership as Shepherd to the People of God in St. Cloud.”
“Bishop-Elect Neary is a great pastor and will make a wonderful bishop,” said Fr. William M. Lies, C.S.C., Superior of the United States Province of Priests and Brothers. “His appointment is a blessing for that diocese and for the Church. His wisdom and wit and his gentle pastoral sensibilities will serve him well in this new role.
“This is an affirmation not just of Bishop-Elect Neary, but of the entire Congregation of Holy Cross and the role that we play in the U.S. Church and worldwide,” added Fr. Lies. “While we will miss Pat dearly among our ranks, beyond our daily work of education, parish and mission, I can hardly imagine a better gift we could make to the Church than such a worthy religious as bishop.”
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Bishop-Elect Neary is the oldest of six children of Jacob and Marybelle Neary of Laporte, Indiana. He attended the University of Notre Dame as a seminarian with the Congregation of Holy Cross in the Old College formation program, graduating with a BA in history in 1985.
Bishop-Elect Neary entered the Holy Cross Novitiate the following August in Cascade, Colorado. He received his Master of Divinity from the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, California, in 1990. He also spent a year in Chile, where he perfected Spanish that he had previously learned studying in Mexico. Bishop-Elect Neary took Final Vows in the Congregation in September 1990 and then was ordained to the priesthood on April 6, 1991.
After serving as a deacon and then associate pastor of St. John Vianney Parish, Goodyear, Arizona, he was assigned to serve as Assistant Vocations Director and work in Campus Ministry at the University of Notre Dame from 1994-1997. From there, he joined the formation staff at Moreau Seminary, Notre Dame, Indiana. Beginning as the Director of Postulants, he was named the Rector of the Seminary, serving in that role from 2004-2010.
At that time, Bishop-Elect Neary was assigned as Rector of McCauley Formation House in Nairobi, Kenya. Two years later he was elected Superior of the District of East Africa, and served six years.
Finishing his time in the missions in East Africa, Bishop-Elect Neary returned to the United States, where he took up his current role as Pastor of Holy Redeemer Church in Portland, Oregon.