Wall welcomed
Fourth bishop of the Gallup Diocese ordained

Newly ordained Bishop James Wall walks down the aisle after Thursday's ceremony at Sacred Heart Cathedral. Wall was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI to head the Diocese of Gallup. — © 2009 Gallup Independent / Brian Leddy

Copyright © 2009
Gallup Independent
By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
Staff writer

GALLUP — After 21 long months, Catholics in the Diocese of Gallup celebrated their new bishop and the diocese’s new beginning.

A new bishop’s coat of arms hung prominently in the Sacred Heart Cathedral on Thursday afternoon, along with a banner featuring images of chrysalides and emerging butterflies.

Members of the Knights of Columbus, who are enjoying a renewed appreciation in the diocese, marched into the Cathedral to honor their fellow member, the Most Rev. James S. Wall, 44, a former priest from the Diocese of Phoenix, as he became the fourth bishop of the Gallup Diocese and the youngest Catholic bishop in the United States.

“A new bishop is a new joyful beginning for a diocese,” proclaimed the Most Rev. Pietro Sambi, the apostolic nuncio to the United States, during the ceremony.

In the lengthy ordination and installation Mass, hundreds of visitors — church leaders, Wall’s family and friends, priests from both the Gallup and Phoenix dioceses, religious sisters and brothers, Catholic lay people, and visiting dignitaries — filled the Cathedral to capacity to celebrate Wall’s new beginning in the Gallup Diocese. As was noted during the Mass, Wall’s appointment comes during the Diocese of Gallup’s 70th anniversary.

During the nearly three-hour ceremony, Wall shared some of the attention with the two men who previously led the Gallup Diocese. The Most Rev. Thomas J. Olmsted, the bishop of Phoenix and the apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Gallup for the past 15 months, began the ceremony as the presiding bishop. He exited the ceremony as a fellow bishop of a neighboring diocese. Former Gallup Bishop Donald E. Pelotte, attending as a visitor, sat on the altar with a number of other current and retired bishops from across the country.

Thursday’s ceremony was held exactly 21 months ago to the day that Pelotte was discovered in his Gallup home with serious injuries that eventually led to his resignation.

But the youthful Wall was clearly the center of attention in a ceremony that featured Archbishop Michael J. Sheehan of Santa Fe as the main celebrant and principal consecrator; Bishop Edward W. Clark, an auxiliary bishop of Los Angeles, as a co-consecrator; and Olmsted, as a co-consecrator and the homilist. In addition, the apostolic nuncio offered some introductory remarks and read the letter from Pope Benedict XVI that called Wall to his office as bishop, and Cardinal Roger Mahony, Archbishop of Los Angeles, offered concluding remarks.

In his homily, Olmsted focused on Wall’s new pastoral role as a bishop — a shepherd caring for his sheep — and his responsibility to continue the tradition of the early apostles of being ambassadors of the Gospel. Noting that Wall had been born within the borders of the diocese and was now returning as its bishop, Olmsted asked, “How wondrous is the love of God?”

During the actual rite of ordination, Wall kneeled before Sheehan, who placed his hands on Wall and invoked the power of the Holy Spirit. This was followed by the co-consecrators and the other bishops also laying on their hands. As Wall continued to kneel, the bishops held a Bible over Wall’s head in an ancient rite that signifies the responsibility of the “yoke of the Gospel.”

Wall was then invested with the signs of his office of bishop with the presentation of a ring, a miter, and a crosier. After walking to the bishop’s chair, Wall was greeted with a standing ovation from the crowd. The rite concluded with Sheehan and the other bishops welcoming Wall into the episcopal fraternity by exchanging the sign of peace.

Wall began his own concluding remarks with some humor about his unexpected appointment as bishop. “This year when the Arizona Cardinals made it to the Super Bowl, I thought that was the biggest surprise of my life,” he joked.

And after thanking the various bishops in attendance, Wall offered his thanks to his mother, Joan Wall, and his five siblings. Wall’s father, James A. Wall, is deceased. Wall explained the significance of his ring, which was created out of turquoise that had been given to his father and is shaped like a Cross of St. James, in honor of his father and his own baptismal patron, St. James, the Greater. In an emotional moment, Wall hugged his mother and presented her with a pendant in the same shape.

Wall concluded his remarks by briefly outlining three of his goals for the Diocese of Gallup. His first, Wall said, is to get out and begin meeting people across the diocese. Secondly, Wall promised, he was going to be “extremely pro-life” and advocate for the protection of life from “conception until natural death.” Thirdly, he said, he would encourage and pray for more priestly vocations in the diocese.

Information: www.dioceseofgallup.org