New bishop to be ordained, installed Feb. 11 in Marquette

MARQUETTE — Catholic parishioners from throughout the Upper Peninsula will soon gather for the upcoming episcopal ordination and installation of Bishop-elect John F. Doerfler as the 13th bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Marquette. It will take place on Tuesday, Feb. 11, at 2 p.m. EST at St. Peter Cathedral in Marquette.

Nearly 700 people are expected to attend the ceremony in St. Peter Cathedral, including bishops, clergy, religious and laity. Archbishop Allen Vigneron of Detroit will be the principal consecrator of the Mass.

Archbishop Alexander Sample of Portland in Oregon, who was the 12th bishop of Marquette, and Bishop David Ricken of Green Bay will be the co-consecrators. Witnessing the ordination and installation will be Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, the Apostolic Nuncio (the pope’s representative) to the United States of America.

Bishop David Zubik of Pittsburgh, who served as the bishop of Green Bay from 2003 to 2007, will deliver the homily.

“I look forward to serving the people of the Diocese of Marquette with joy,” Doerfler said. He succeeds Sample, who was installed as archbishop of Portland in Oregon on April 2, 2013.

All the priests, deacons and women religious of the diocese have been invited to the ceremony, as well as three representatives from each of the 94 Catholic parishes and missions in the U.P.

Admission to the episcopal ordination and installation is by ticket only, but everyone is welcome to greet the new bishop at a reception immediately following the liturgy in the St. Peter Cathedral Parish Hall. That reception is expected to begin at approximately 4:30 p.m.

Sample was the last priest to be ordained a bishop in the Catholic Diocese of Marquette on Jan. 25, 2006. Prior to that time, it had been over 100 years since a similar ceremony had taken place. Most of the bishops were installed in Marquette after serving as bishops in other places.

Doerfler, 49, was serving as the Vicar General of the Diocese of Green Bay when he was appointed bishop of Marquette on Dec. 17, 2013. He is a native of Appleton, Wis. and was ordained to the priesthood in 1991. He holds a Licentiate in Canon Law and a Doctorate in Sacred Theology.

Doerfler has served as a parish priest and in several curial posts for the Diocese of Green Bay, including assistant chancellor, chancellor, and tribunal judge. He was also a part-time lecturer in moral theology at Sacred Heart School of Theology in Hales Corners, Wis. this past year.

Doerfler’s family includes his mother, Germaine; brother, Thomas; sister-in-law, Lisa; and nephew, Bryan. His father, Henry, died in 1998.