October 23, 2009
Brother of Evansville priests
Father Paul Etienne is named bishop of Cheyenne, Wyoming
The Etienne siblings pose on the day of Father Zach’s ordination. They are Sister Nicolette, Rick, Father Paul, Angie, Father Zachary and Father Bernie. (Message 2004 photo by Paul R. Leingang) Click for a larger version.
By MARY ANN HUGHES (Message staff writer)
There was great joy tinged with sadness in Tell City this week as the news spread that native son and pastor Father Paul D. Etienne has been named the eighth Bishop of Cheyenne, Wyo.
Publication of the appointment, made by Pope Benedict XVI, was announced in Washington, D.C., Oct. 19, by Archbishop Pietro Sambi, apostolic nuncio to the United States.
Bishop-elect Etienne will be installed and ordained a bishop on Dec. 9. He succeeds Bishop David L. Ricken, who was named Bishop of Green Bay, Wis., in July.
Early Monday morning, when Kay Etienne, the bishop-elect’s mom answered the phone call from the Message, her first words regarding her son’s appointment were, “Oh, God is good to this gang.”
Paul is the second of her six children. Two of her sons are parish priests in the Diocese of Evansville. Father Bernie Etienne is pastor at Holy Rosary Church in Evansville and director of the diocesan Vocations Office. Father Zach Etienne is pastor at St. Mary Church in Ireland. A daughter, Nicolette, is a Sister with the Benedictines at Our Lady of Grace Monastery near Indianapolis.
Another son, Rick, is the former director of youth ministry for the Evansville diocese; he is married and lives in New-burgh. Her youngest child is Angela Kellems who is married and lives in Evansville.
Paul Etienne is the bishop-elect’s dad. He said that his son had a private dinner with both parents last Saturday night to tell them the news.
“I told him I was excited for him. I had no doubt that someday he would be a bishop, but didn’t think it would be this soon.”
He laughed as he suggested that the Diocese of Owensboro might have been a better choice. Bishop John McRaith retired there in January. “It’s 40-minutes from our house in Tell City, but I’m sure he’ll do a good job in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
“I’m happy for him. It’s a wonderful place too.”
Father Paul Etienne began duties as pastor at his home parish in July. When the news of his appointment was announced there at Mass on Monday morning, the parishioners “hated the thought of him leaving,” his dad said. “He’s doing such a great job, and they like him.”
As he thinks about the news, Father Paul’s dad said, “It’s humbling. It’s sort of scary. There are a lot of anxieties. It makes the hair stand up on the back of your neck when you think about it — but we are happy for him, and the people of Cheyenne, Wyoming.”
Father Zach agreed. “It’s good, but it’s life-changing. I’m excited for him, and I’m nervous for him.”
He’s also a little sad about the move which will take his brother so far away from southern Indiana. He said every Sunday afternoon the three brother priests would head to their parents’ home in Tell City, and they would spend Mondays together.
At his own parish in Ireland, he said, “We’ve been praying for current and future bishops,” partly for his own brother and in part for Bishop Gettelfinger and the “faceless bishop” who will be arriving in this diocese to succeed Bishop Gettelfinger, that he will be “another bishop who truly does care for his people.”
Father Zach said his brother Paul “truly is a guy that loves the Church, and he will be a true gift for Cheyenne.”
Bishop Gerald A. Gettelfinger said, “In my most recent columns ‘From Whence the Priest’ I could have been writing about the Etienne family of St. Paul’s Parish in Tell City, Indiana.
“Congratulations to Paul and Kay, Father Bernie, Rick, Benedictine Sister Nicolette, Father Zach and Angie on the appointment of Father Paul, their son and brother, to the Holy Order of the Episcopate. What joy there must be in the Etienne clan! That is as it should be.
“On Monday morning, October 19, 2009, Father Zach informed me that his brother, Father Paul — now bishop elect — would be going to the Diocese of Cheyenne as its new bishop. He did so just before the Mass prior to the blessing of Pope John-Paul II Catholic High School in Jasper. The news came as no surprise but did generate a great surge of emotion in my heart. To say it bluntly, I am thrilled.
“When Bishop-elect Paul was a transitory deacon for the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, Archbishop O’Meara was dying of pulmonary fibrosis. Knowing that he would not be alive to ordain Deacon Paul, Archbishop O’Meara — who had promoted me to be bishop — delegated me to ordain Deacon Paul to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Indianapolis. I joyfully accepted.
“It was my distinct privilege to ordain Deacon Paul a priest in his home parish of St. Paul in Tell City in 1992. Subsequently, I have been privileged to ordain his two brothers, Father Bernie and Father Zach, for the Diocese of Evansville. In familial terms, all three are ‘my sons’ in the priesthood. Now you un-derstand my joy today. I am so very proud of them!
“I will certainly concelebrate the ordination of Bishop Paul D. Etienne of the Diocese of Cheyenne Wyoming with Archbishop Chaput of Denver, the ordaining prelate, Bishop Ricken of Green Bay, the former bishop of Cheyenne, Archbishop Daniel of Indianapolis, Archbishop Pietro Sambi, Apostolic Nuncio, and all the other bishops in attendance! It will be a special joy for me!
“May, Jesus, the Good Shepherd lead Bishop Paul and guide him as a faithful shepherd of all those entrusted to his care!”
Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein of Indianapolis said it is an honor for the priests of the archdiocese to have one of their own named a bishop.
“All the clergy and faithful of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis are proud of Father Etienne,” he said. “Bishop-elect Etienne and all of the people of the Diocese of Cheyenne have our prayers. We are grateful for all that he has done for our archdiocese and we’ll miss him.”
Father Paul Etienne was born June 15, 1959, in Tell City. He graduated from Tell City High School and the University of St. Thomas, in St. Paul, Minnesota, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in business.
In 1986 through 1987, he served with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) as assistant coordinator for Papal Visits for Pope John Paul II to the United States.
He attended North American College in Rome, and was or-dained for the Archdiocese of Indianapolis in 1992. He holds Bachelor and Licentiate of The-ology degrees from the Gregor-ian University, Rome.
His assignments after ordination included associate pastor at St. Barnabas Parish, Indian-apolis, from 1992 to 1993; associate director of Vocations in 1993; graduate studies in Rome in 1994; Archdiocesan Director of Vocations from 1995 to 1998; pastor at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish in New Albany from 1998 to 2008, with additional pastorate in 2002, at St. John the Baptist Parish, New Albany; vice-rector at Bishop Simon Bruté College Seminary in Indianapolis from 2008 to the present; pastor at St. Simon the Apostle and St. John the Evangelist parishes in Indianapolis in 2008, and pastor at St. Paul Parish in 2009.
Father Paul Etienne directed a retreat for the seminarians of the Diocese of Evansville at Sarto Retreat House in Evansville in August, just prior to the beginning of the current semester.
The Diocese of Cheyenne was established in 1887, and is home to over 53,000 Catholics. There are 36 parishes, 36 missions, 52 active priests, 17 retired priests, 22 deacons and 15 sisters.
The diocese comprises the state of Wyoming and Yellowstone National Park. (Small portions of Yellowstone National Park are in Montana — three percent, and in Idaho — one percent.) The total population of the diocese is estimated at 515,000 people, with 10 percent of them Catholic.