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MARCH 9, 2007
WELCOME, BISHOP WESTER!
Bishop Wester sees power of God at work in others
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — After 31 years of priesthood, nine of them spent as auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, Bishop John C. Wester said he has learned a great deal about the human condition.
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Bishop Wester with clergy
"He is wise, generous, humble, and caring," says Archbishop Niederauer of Bishop John C. Wester
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — The last weeks of February were emotional and busy for the people of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, as they celebrated the 31 years of service Bishop John Charles Wester has given them. Preparing for Bishop Wester’s leaving to become the ninth bishop of the Diocese of Salt Lake City created an air of sadness, but also one of great joy for the honor Bishop Wester is receiving.
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Bishop Wester "a pilgrim," says Msgr. Harriman
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — Msgr. Michael Harriman, pastor of St. Cecilia Parish, where Bishop Wester has been in residence for the past four years, speaks of Bishop Wester as a brother priest, a close friend, and a pilgrim whose many journeys have enhanced his deep spirituality.
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From student to bishop, Father Konkel has accompanied the journey
MENLO PARK, Calif. — A lot is said these days about the value of mentors and mentoring. But few mentoring relationships have the depth and the longevity of the one between Sulpician Father Eugene J. Konkel of St. Patrick’s Seminary and University and Bishop John Wester. Fr. Konkel first met the young, eager seminarian John Wester when he was attending the minor seminary when he was high school age. He then taught Bishop Wester English the seminary.
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Prayer and humor mark San Francisco clergy farewell to Bishop John Wester
MENLO PARK, Calf. — The sweet fragrance of incense filled the chapel of St. Patrick Seminary in Menlo Park, south of San Francisco, as Evening Prayer began. This special ceremony and the dinner that followed drew almost every priest, deacon, and deacon’s wife of the Archdiocese of San Francisco as they prepared to bid farewell to Auxiliary Bishop John Charles Wester, now bishop-designate of the Diocese of Salt Lake City.
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Bishop Wester with family and friends
Westers, O'Sullivans, Barbis a close-knit family
SAN RAFAEL, Calif. — The law office of Barry Wester, Bishop Wester’s only brother, was the meeting place for the Intermountain Catholic and two-thirds of Bishop Wester’s immediate family Feb. 23. Barry, who is divorced, and his three children, Jeffrey, Bryan, and Andrew, were joined by Kathy O’Sullivan, Bishop Wester’s youngest sister, her husband, Terry, and their children, Michael, John Eric, and Sarah. We caught up with Nancy Barbi by telephone March 3. Nancy and her late husband, Stephen, had three children, Robert, Jennifer, and Stephen.
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Helen Wester recalls our bishop's early vocation
DALY CITY, Calif. — Helen Wester’s home in Daly City, south of San Francisco, the home the Wester family has lived in since their oldest son, Bishop John Charles Wester was six years old, sits on a quiet street. Little on the outside of the neat, blue and white split-level hints at the excitement going on inside.
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Mary Ellen Hoffman shares fond memories of working in ministry with Bishop Wester
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — Mary Ellen Hoffman opens a well-organized book of photographs and settles back in a chair in the conference room of St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral in San Francisco. For the past two years Hoffman has been assistant to Father John J. Talesfore, rector of the Cathedral of St. Mary.
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Longtime friend cites bishop’s compassion, sense of justice
SAN FRANCISCO — Laura Bertone, 39, is a remarkable woman. A successful banker and businesswoman in both San Francisco and London, she recognized that something within her was unfulfilled. After returning from a stint in London, Bertone sought spiritual counseling from those who knew her well in her hometown of San Francisco – Father John J. Talesfore, rector of St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral and Auxiliary Bishop John Wester, whom she has known since his deaconate days at St. Raphael’s Parish.
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Tom White remembers a young Bishop Wester
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — The relationship between Bishop John Wester and Tom White, principal of St. Anne Elementary School in San Francisco, goes all the way back to when the two were fourth-graders together at Our Lady of Mercy Elementary School in Westlake, Calif. (That school’s mascot, by the way, is the bulldog, so Bishop Wester should feel right at home at Judge Memorial Catholic High School.) For the past several years, White and Bishop Wester have met every Friday morning for racquetball. Theirs is a healthy competition, White said, “most of the time.”
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Bishop Wester's comings and goings
Bishop Wester's farewell Mass a celebration of Archdiocesan gratitude for his dedication, service
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. —When Bishop John Charles Wester was ordained a bishop in 1998 and named auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, he was quoted as saying to the Catholic Community of San Francisco: “You will see yourselves reflected in my ministry to you.”
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How to move a bishop: packing, stacking, and praying
Does the baby grand go, or does it stay? Bishop Wester and Father Lodovico J. Landi tussle over Bishop Wester’s prized baby grand piano. Fr. Landi doesn’t play. He just thought it looked good in the living room of St. Cecilia Parish Rectory, where the two priests lived with Msgr. Michael Harriman. The piano made it to Utah, and Bishop Wester was grateful he didn’t have to watch the movers unload it. To get it up the hill to the bishop’s residence, it had to be off-loaded into a pick-up truck in about eight inches of snow. It is now safely located inside the bishop’s residence.
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In 2004, Bishop Wester saw refugee life firsthand
SALT LAKE CITY — In 2004, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Migration and Refugee Services committee sent a delegation on a fact-finding mission to Asia. As the leader of this commission, Bishop John Wester saw precisely the conditions of refugees in China, Vietnam, Thailand, and the Philippines.
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Catholic school students welcome Bishop John Wester to the Diocese of Salt Lake City
Little known facts about Bishop Wester
Details of the installation
Installation to be a time of celebration, prayer
Slated for March 14 at 1:30 p.m., in the Cathedral of the Madeleine in Salt Lake City, the installation ceremony will draw civic and religious leaders alike.
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New music to be premiered at Wester Installation
SALT LAKE CITY — Bishop John Charles Wester will be installed as the ninth bishop of the Diocese of Salt Lake City March 14 at a Mass at 1:30 p.m. in the Cathedral of the Madeleine in Salt Lake City. The clergy of the Diocese of Salt Lake City will be assembled there, representatives from local churches will be present, as will civic leaders and representatives from throughout the diocese.
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Bishops' Attire, Appointments, and Vestments
Bishops, too, wear special items that set them apart as bishops. Many of these vestments and accessories can be traced far back in the history of the Church, and some can be traced even further back in time.
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Meanwhile, in Salt Lake City
Msgr. Fitzgerald: Reflections on a Mission Diocese
SALT LAKE CITY — Very few people are left in the Diocese of Salt Lake City who do not know the name “Msgr. J. Terrence Fitzgerald” or the many titles that have been associated with that name over the years.
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