The Most Reverend David John Walkowiak, J.C.D. (born June 18, 1953) is a prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who has been serving as the twelfth bishop ordinary of the

Diocese of Grand Rapids The Roman Catholic Diocese of Grand Rapids ( la, Dioecesis Grandcataractensis) is a diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in western Michigan, in the United States. It comprises 80 parishes in 11 counties in West Michigan. It is a suffragan see to ...

in Michigan since 2013.

Biography

Early life

David John Walkowiak was born in East Cleveland, Ohio on June 18, 1952, to Dr. John and Virginia Walkowiak. He has three sisters, and the family is of Polish descent. He attended Saint Bernadette school in Westlake, Ohio and then Cleveland's Saint Ignatius High School. Walkowiak earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in government and international studies from the University of Notre Dame in 1975 and his

Masters of Divinity For graduate-level theological institutions, the Master of Divinity (MDiv, ''magister divinitatis'' in Latin) is the first professional degree of the pastoral profession in North America. It is the most common academic degree in seminaries and di ...

degree four years later from

Saint Mary Seminary St. Mary's Seminary and University is a Catholic seminary located within the Archdiocese of Baltimore in Baltimore, Maryland; it was the first seminary founded in the United States after the Revolution and has been run since its founding by the ...

in Wickliffe, Ohio. Beginning in the early 1980s, he studied at the

Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Roman Catholic research university in Washington, D.C. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution of higher education founded by U.S. ...

in Washington, D.C., earning his Licentiate of Canon Law in 1984 and his

Doctor of Canon Law Doctor of Canon Law ( la, Juris Canonici Doctor, JCD) is the doctoral-level terminal degree in the studies of canon law of the Roman Catholic Church. It can also be an honorary degree awarded by Anglican colleges. It may also be abbreviated ICD ...

degree in 1987.

Priesthood

Walkowiak was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop James A. Hickey for the

Diocese of Cleveland The Diocese of Cleveland ( la, Dioecesis Clevelandensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in the northeastern portion of the U.S. state of Ohio. Pope Pius IX erected the diocese April 23, 1847, in te ...

on June 9, 1979. He served the diocese as; *

Pastoral vicar A pastoral lifestyle is that of shepherds herding livestock around open areas of land according to seasons and the changing availability of water and pasture. It lends its name to a genre of literature, art, and music ( pastorale) that de ...

of Saint Mary Parish in

Lorain, Ohio Lorain () is a city in Lorain County, Ohio, United States. The municipality is located in northeastern Ohio on Lake Erie, at the mouth of the Black River, about 30 miles west of Cleveland. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 65 ...

(1979–1984) * Vice-

chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

of the diocese (1988–2006) * Professor of canon law at Saint Mary Seminary in Wickliffe (1988–2006) * Pastor of Saint Joan of Arc Parish in Chagrin Falls, Ohio (2006–2013) Additionally, Walkowiak was a member of the Council of Priests for the diocese and served as an associate judge of its Court of Appeals.

Bishop of Grand Rapids

On April 18, 2013, Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Bishop Walter A. Hurley of the Diocese of Grand Rapids and appointed Walkowiak as his successor. He was consecrated by Archbishop Allen Vigneron on Walkowiak's 60th birthday (June 18, 2013) at the Cathedral of Saint Andrew in Grand Rapids. Assisting Vigneron as

co-consecrators A consecrator is a bishop who ordains someone to the episcopacy. A co-consecrator is someone who assists the consecrator bishop in the act of ordaining a new bishop. The terms are used in the canon law of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Churches, ...

were Bishop Hurley, Apostolic Nuncio Carlo Viganò, and twenty other American bishops. Walkowiak released a statement on November 27, 2019, in which he supported the decision of Scott Nolan, pastor of St. Stephen Parish in East Grand Rapids, Michigan, to withhold the

eucharist The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...

from Sara Smolenski. A town judge, Smolenski told the local media that Nolan notified her before mass that she could not receive communion because of her same-sex marriage. She also said that Nolan had given her communion the week before. On May 27, 2021, Walkowiak announced that Pope Francis had laicized William Langlois, a priest from the diocese. The diocese has received allegations in 2018 that Langlois had sexually abused a parishioner when they were a minor between 1999 and 2006. The diocese immediately suspended Langlois, notified local authorities, and started an internal investigation.

References

External links