by Barbara Stinson Lee
Intermountain Catholic

Return to special coverage of Bishop Wester's Installation

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.

The evening was a loving mix of prayer and humor as Archbishop George Niederauer presided over the prayer service, and Bishop Wester’s brother priests, many he has known from seminary days and earlier, shared stories, gave advice, and promised their continued prayers and support for Bishop Wester’s new ministry. “We are men of Menlo,” one speaker said, “bound together in faith and affection.”

In a brief homily during Evening Prayer, Archbishop Niederauer recalled Martin Luther’s argument over the importance of faith vs. good works. “We agree, it is not ‘either/or,’” the archbishop said, “but ‘both/and.’

“This evening we celebrate and give thanks for the service given here by Bishop John Charles Wester, and we pray for his future ministry... and we commit him in prayer to Mary, our holy mother,” Archbishop Niederauer said.

The evening took a less somber turn as, after dinner, Bishop Wester’s brother priests shared stories and advice.

Sulpician Father Eugene J. Konkel of St. Patrick Seminary and University, said bidding farewell to Bishop Wester was “like an Irish good-bye... John is a great example of a truly pastoral person. He has a deep love for the poor. Once day, he actually talked a man off a roof and kept him from jumping. We kidded him that he could talk anyone out of anything.

“John is a very spiritual person; I know how much he prays,” said Fr. Konkel. “And he is a good homilist. Where I come from in Wisconsin, they would say, ‘He lays down the hay where the cows can get at it.’”

Fr. Konkel closed his remarks with an eighth-century poem.

Father David Pettingill of the Diocesan Office of the Permanent Diaconate, said Bishop Wester just might hold the record for “the shortest monisgnorship in history – just 11 months from being named a monsignor and being named a bishop.”

Relating three stories about Bishop Wester in which he was told he didn’t have the hardware to be a bishop, he didn’t have the territory to get good coverage in a local newspaper, and as an auxiliary bishop, he was anomalous, Fr. Pettingill said, “You realize John, you have the hardware, you have the territory, and you are no longer anomalous.”

Father Leonard J. Caligeri, pastor of St. Stephen Church, where Bishop Wester once served, said every priest has to have a support group, and Bishop Wester had many. “One was an ongoing poker group... He has always been a good sport. One evening, wanting to appear sophisticated, he dropped out of a hand early and picked up a newspaper. One of his brother priests lit a match to the newspaper, just to get his attention.”

Fr. Calegari related that Bishop Wester, presiding at Sunday Mass once, was going down the aisle, bucket of water in hand, and saw Fr. Calegari’s brother in the congregation. Taking up a good deal of water in the juniper branch he was using, Bishop Wester drenched his brother with water.

“After Mass, John said, ‘I was never called that in church.’ John is a lot of fun and the people of Salt Lake City will have a good time with him,” Fr. Calegari said.

Msgr. Michael D. Harriman, pastor of St. Cecilia Parish, where Bishop Wester has been in residence for the past four years, said St. Patrick Seminary taught them to “seek holiness, and one day heaven... The celebrations of the sacraments at St. Patrick’s have enabled John to seek holiness. His pastoral assignments at St. Raphael, St. Stephen, and Marin Catholic have enabled John to seek holiness... And living in community with his brother priests has enabled John to seek holiness. The extra holiness of those at Gough Street (the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption) and 1 Peter Yorke Way have enabled John Wester to seek holiness. The trials and tribulations of the past four years have enabled him to seek holiness.”

Bishop Wester thanked each of the speakers, saying, “I’m the only one in the room who is keenly aware of the fact that the spotlight should not be on me. The reality is, you’re the people who make me look good. We’re all in this together, and that’s what it means to be Church. We are invited by the Lord to say ‘yes.’ To listen to him call us by name. That’s what it’s all about. This week we saw the Academy Awards, and one of my thoughts is that my category is supporting. That’s the way I see myself. I will do my best in the supporting category. All of you have supported me... each and every one of you.”

Archbishop Niederauer urged “all of us in San Francisco to get over ourselves.”

“Bishop Wester is going to a very wonderful diocese, and a very fine church in Salt Lake City,” he said.

“I will miss so much about my good friend and strong collaborator – his concern, his compassion, his good sense, his deep faith, his solicitude for everybody in every situation, and his humility,” Archbishop Niederauer said.

“John we are all supporters. The only star is Jesus. So often it would be what John would say about a particular situation. He gave a lot in the words he said – healing, wise words.

“John can be described best with the words the bystanders used to describe Peter on the night Jesus was arrested: “Surely you were with Jesus, for your words give you away.”

Above, Bishop Wester, Auxiliary Bishop Ignatius C. Wang, and Father William J. Justice, pastor of Mission Dolores Basilica, who will step into Bishop Wester’s shoes as vicar for clergy, join in the Lord’s Prayer during Evening Prayer. Below, Archbishop George Niederauer presides over Evening Prayer Feb. 27 at St. Patrick Seminary in Menlo Park, Calif., before a dinner spiced with humor for Bishop-designate Wester.