An Archbishop on Utah's Capitol Hill

Intermountain Catholic

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Archbishop-designate George Niederauer says an opening prayer at the Feb. 5 session of the Utah Senate (left). Gov. Jon Huntsman and the Utah State Legislature presented Bishop Niederauer with an official citation which was read into the record in both chambers. IC photos by Barbara S. Lee

SALT LAKE CITY — Using the words of the psalmist, Archbishop-designate George Niederauer offered a prayer to open the Feb. 5 session of the Utah State Senate:

"Put not your trust in princes, in man, in whom there is no salvation. Happy he... whose hope is in the Lord, his God. Who made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them; who... secures justice for the oppressed, gives food to the hungry. The Lord raises up those that are bowed down; the Lord loves the just. The Lord protects strangers; the fatherless and the widow he sustains, but the way of the wicked he thwarts."

Bishop Niederauer prayed Utah’s legislators will "take these words to heart and live by them. Draw and guide us so that we will seek to be agents of your justice, your compassion, and your wisdom. May we serve you by serving our brothers and sisters."

Bishop Niederauer was slated to be installed as the eighth archbishop of San Francisco Feb. 15.

Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., and the Utah Legislature presented Bishop Niederauer with an official citation recognizing his 43 years of priesthood and his leadership of Utah’s Catholic community for 11 years. They noted that he will become one of only 49 archbishops in the United States and he is the first bishop from this diocese to be appointed archbishop since 1932.

In his 11 years in Utah, the citation notes, the Catholic community in Utah has more than doubled. It recognizes the bishop’s academic background and his history of service to the Church at large; his contributions to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) "Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People" and its norms; his service on a number of national committees; his local efforts on behalf of the Alliance for Unity, the Coalition for Utah’s Future, the Utah Coalition Against Pornography, and his receiving the Gandhi Peace Award in 2004 from Utah’s Gandhi Alliance for Peace.

"He has been honored for his uncompromising stands against the Iraq war and in favor of immigrant rights, arguing against proposed legislation that would make it tougher for illegal immigrants to obtain driver licenses," said the citation.

The recognition also notes his book, "Precious As Silver: Imaging Your Life with God."

In the Utah House of Representatives, Rep. Tim M. Cosgrove, (D-Salt Lake County) paid the bishop an emotional tribute.

"Bishop Niederauer has set a very high standard of leadership for myself, for our community, and our state," said Rep. Cosgrove, a member of St. Joseph the Worker Parish and St. Jude Maronite Parish. "For over 43 years, Bishop Niederauer has been a Catholic priest – longer than I have been alive, and even though I have only known the bishop for the last few years, I would like to take this opportunity to share with others what I have learned from my experience and our friendship.

"Bishop Niederauer has shown us, through his leadership, by the way he has conducted himself – a standard founded in integrity... encouraging us every day to open our hearts and minds, set us on a path searching our souls and in praying, looking for a path to understand.