Austin Anthony Vetter (born September 13, 1967) is an American prelate of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

who has been serving as bishop of the

Diocese of Helena The Diocese of Helena ( la, Dioecesis Helenensis) is the Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in western Montana with its cathedral located in Helena. The diocese was created from the year-old Apostolic Vicariat ...

in Montana since 2019.

Biography

Early life

Vetter was born on September 13, 1967, in

Linton, North Dakota Linton is a city in and the county seat of Emmons County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 1,071 at the 2020 census. When compared with the other 356 cities in North Dakota, Linton ranks in the top twelve percent based on the num ...

. After attending

North Dakota State University North Dakota State University (NDSU, formally North Dakota State University of Agriculture and Applied Sciences) is a public land-grant research university in Fargo, North Dakota. It was founded as North Dakota Agricultural College in 1890 as t ...

from 1985 to 1989, he studied for the priesthood at Cardinal Muench Seminary in Fargo, North Dakota, from 1986 to 1989. Vetter then attended the

Pontifical North American College The Pontifical North American College (NAC) is a Catholic Church, Roman Catholic educational institution in Rome, Italy, that prepares seminarians to become priests in the United States and elsewhere. The NAC also provides a residence for Pri ...

in Rome, earning a

Bachelor of Sacred Theology The Baccalaureate in Sacred Theology ( la, Sacrae Theologiae Baccalaureus; abbreviated STB), not to be confused with a Bachelor of Arts in Theology, is the first of three ecclesiastical degrees in theology (the second being the Licentiate in Sacred ...

degree from the

Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas A pontifical ( la, pontificale) is a Christian liturgical book containing the liturgies that only a bishop may perform. Among the liturgies are those of the ordinal for the ordination and consecration of deacons, priests, and bishops to Holy O ...

in 1992.

Priesthood

On June 29, 1993, Vetter was ordained to the priesthood for the

Diocese of Bismarck The Diocese of Bismarck ( la, Dioecesis Bismarckiensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in North Dakota. The current bishop of the diocese is Bishop David Kagan. It is a suffragan diocese in the eccles ...

at the

Cathedral of the Holy Spirit The Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, alternatively known as the ''St. Esprit Cathedral'' ( Turkish: ''Saint Esprit Kilisesi''), located on Cumhuriyet Avenue, 127/A, in the quarter of Pangaltı in Şişli district, the former Harbiye, between Taksim ...

in Bismarck, North Dakota, by Bishop John Kinney. After his ordination, Vetter's pastoral assignments in

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...

parishes included: * Parochial vicar at

* Pastor of St. Martin’s in

Center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

* Pastor of St. Patrick’s in Dickinson * Pastor at St. Leo the Great in

Minot Minot ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Ward County, North Dakota, Ward County, North Dakota, United States, in the state's north-central region. It is most widely known for the Minot Air Force Base, Air Force base approximately north of ...

While completing his pastoral assignments, Vetter also served as a religion instructor at St. Mary's Central High School in Bismarck (1994-1999). He later became an adjunct faculty member at the Institute for Priestly Formation at

Creighton University Creighton University is a private Jesuit research university in Omaha, Nebraska. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1878, the university is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. In 2015 the university enrolled 8,393 graduate and undergra ...

in Omaha, Nebraska. (2004-2007). In 2012, Vetter returned to Rome to serve as director of

spiritual formation Spiritual formation may refer either to the process and practices by which a person may progress in one's spiritual or religious life or to a movement in Protestant Christianity that emphasizes these processes and practices. The processes may inc ...

at the Pontifical North American College, a post he would hold for six years. After returning to Bismarck in 2018, he was named rector of Cathedral of the Holy Spirit.

Bishop of Helena

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

appointed Vetter as the eleventh bishop of the Diocese of Helena on October 8, 2019. Vetter was consecrated by Archbishop

Alexander Sample Alexander King Sample (born November 7, 1960) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He has been serving as archbishop of the Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon since 2013. Sample previously served as bishop of the Diocese of Marque ...

on November 20, 2019.

References

External links