Pre, post-installation celebrations filled with emotion

Intermountain Catholic

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?I can't get used to calling you Archbishop,? said Irene Sweeney at the post-installation dinner. ?Go with what you know,? Archbishop Niederauer answered.

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — At a luncheon for bishops and an invitation-only dinner after the Mass of installation of Archbishop George Niederauer, family members and friends old and new shared in the archbishop’s joy. Both celebrations were hosted by the archdiocese with Auxiliary Bishop John C. Wester as master of ceremonies. Bishop Wester served as apostolic administrator of the archdiocese until Archbishop Niederauer was installed Feb. 15.

At the luncheon before the installation, the new archbishop’s predecessor in the Diocese of Salt Lake City, Bishop William K. Weigand of the Diocese of Sacramento, sat with priests from Utah, with whom he shared memories.

The installation events drew 60 bishops and archbishops from across the United States and two cardinals – Roger Mahony of Los Angeles, Calif. and Justin Rigali of Pittsburgh, Penn.

Also present at the luncheon was Bishop-designate Rudolph Calvo, a priest of the Archdiocese of San Francisco whom Archbishop Niederauer, just two days after his installation would ordain Bishop of Reno, Nev. The new archbishop knew he would have to hit the ground running.

Archbishop Emeritus William J. Levada, Archbishop Niederauer’s immediate predecessor in San Francisco, spoke of the love he has for and the faith he has in Archbishop Niederauer. Calling him a man with "a talent for teaching, for giving homilies, and the new head of the Episcopal college of the San Francisco Province," Archbishop Levada used a mixture of humor and pathos to pass the archdiocese on to his successor.

Archbishop Niederauer said he was grateful for the work and devotion of the Salt Lake City clergy and asked them not to forget him in their prayers. He credited Msgr. J. Terrence Fitzgerald, his vicar general in the Diocese of Salt Lake City for all of his 11-year tenure, for being a superb administrator.

In a touching tribute, Msgr. Fitzgerald said Archbishop Niederauer "never met a stranger in a bus station," and has hundreds of people he considers not just friends, but first cousins, "all of whom he promised a front-row seat at the installation." He charged the auxiliary bishops and priests of the archdiocese to "take care of Archbishop Niederauer."

Archbishop Levada then led the room in a toast to Pope Benedict XVI.

From the luncheon through the installation, then into the dinner, Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony and Archbishop Niederauer kept friendly banter going that reflected the ongoing rivalry between the cities of San Francisco and Los Angeles. Archbishop Levada, at the dinner, kidded Cardinal Mahony for saying "the F word… Frisco."

Cardinal Mahony, recalling a Mother’s Day card he once bought for Bishop Niederauer’s mother, said he signed the card, "From the two of us."

"Both Salt Lake City and San Francisco are cities in which it is easy to leave your heart, and Archbishop Niederauer has a lot of heart to go around," said Archbishop Levada.

Archbishop Niederauer said he was blessed to have succeeded two men who are younger than he is – Bishop Weigand and Archbishop Levada – although Archbishop Levada by only one day.

"When we have disagreed, I’ve often said to Archbishop Levada, ‘Bill, when you get to be as old as I am, you’ll see I’m right.’ But the next day, his opinion never changed," said Archbishop Niederauer.

In a room peppered with old friends from Los Angeles, where he was born, grew up, was ordained and first served, and Salt Lake City, where he spent the last 11 years, Archbishop Niederauer said the joy he has felt in his life with them has been "an infallible sign of the Kingdom of God." Of the Archdiocese of San Francisco and his new friends and associates, he said, "this is my home, my faith, my hope, and my love."