ARCHBISHOP JOSEPH
KURTZ VISITS ST.CATHARINE'S
ARCHBISHOP JOSEPH
KURTZ VISITS ST.CATHARINE'S
On June 12, 2007, Pope Benedict XVI appointed the Most Reverend Joseph E. Kurtz, D.D., to serve as the ninth bishop and fourth archbishop of the Archdiocese of Louisville. On October 26, 1999, he was appointed by Pope John Paul II to serve as the second bishop of the Diocese of Knoxville. He was ordained to the episcopacy on December 8, 1999.
Born on August 18, 1946 in Mahanoy City,
Pennsylvania, Archbishop Kurtz is the son of the late George and Stella
(Zmijewski) Kurtz and the brother of the late Rosemarie Quinn, Patricia Cameli,
Theresa Bakos and the late George S. Kurtz. Ordained to the priesthood for the
Diocese of Allentown on March 18, 1972, Archbishop Kurtz served that diocese as
a priest for 27 years in the areas of social services, diocesan administration
and parish ministry. Active in advocacy work, Archbishop Kurtz, who received the
distinguished title of "monsignor" in 1986, served on more than a dozen boards
of directors in the Allentown Diocese before going to East Tennessee
(Knoxville).
Since his arrival in Louisville he has been on a whirlwind ride trying to visit all of the parishes in the Archdiocese. It took us over a year but we finally were able to have him to St. Catharine's for his first official visit on September 23, 2008. It was a wonderful visit. The archbishop started at Sansbury Care Center and had time to meet with the sisters and lay residence as well as the staff. Mr. Huston then took him to St. Catharine College to meet faculty, staff and especially the students. I think he was overwhelmed to learn that education has happened on these grounds since our founding in 1822.
His last and longest stop was St. Catharine
Hall. The Motherhouse sisters invited the college staff and faculty as
well as the staff from Sansbury to come to the reception. The archbishop
went to every table to meet those who had come to meet him. He then spoke
a few words telling of his connection to Dominicans. His
coat of arms has a ring
denoting the espousal of Catherine of Siena to Jesus Christ. He also
talked about the values he sees in the Archdiocese of Louisville, namely: the
goodness of God manifested in all of creation; the dignity of the person called
to wholeness in Jesus Christ and the power of the community that is committed to
prayer, collaboration and service. These values spoke to each of us and
ones that we hold dear as we pursue the mission of the Gospel.
It was only after he was sure that he had personally greeted everyone that he
sat down to have a little lunch and relax before going off to his next stop.
Archbishop Kurtz came from being the Bishop of Knoxville with no Motherhouses to
be the Archbishop of Louisville with five Motherhouses and we were very pleased
and honored to welcome to St. Catharine's.