William D. Byrne
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William Draper Byrne (born September 26, 1964) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He has been serving as the bishop of the Diocese of Springfield in Massachusetts since 2020.


Biography


Early life

William Byrne was born on September 26, 1964, in
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, the son of Mary and William Draper Byrne, a surgeon. William Byrne grew up in
McLean, Virginia McLean ( ) is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County in Northern Virginia. McLean is home to many diplomats, military, members of Congress, and high-ranking government officials partially due to its proxi ...
, and attended the Mater Dei School in Bethesda, Maryland Starting in the ninth grade, Byrne attended
Georgetown Preparatory School Georgetown Preparatory School (also known as Georgetown Prep) is a Jesuit college-preparatory school in North Bethesda, Maryland for boys in ninth through twelfth grade. It has a 93-acre (380,000 square meters) campus. It is the only Jesuit boar ...
in Rockville, Maryland. Byrne completed his undergraduate studies at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts. According to Byrne's older sister, Dede Byrne, he was influenced in college to become a priest by the example of their uncle, John Byrne, a priest in New York City. While a seminarian, Byrne studied at the Pontifical North American College in
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. He received 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 Sacre ...
in 1992 and a Licentiate of Sacred Theology in 1994 from the
Pontifical University of Saint 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 ...
.


Priesthood

Byrne was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Washington on June 25, 1994 by Archbishop James Hickey. Byrne served as parochial vicar at Little Flower Parish in Bethesda from 1994 to 1995 and then as parochial vicar at Shrine of Saint Jude Parish in Rockville. He then served as chaplain for the University of Maryland's Catholic Student Center in
College Park, Maryland College Park is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, and is approximately four miles (6.4 km) from the northeast border of Washington, D.C. The population was 34,740 at the 2020 United States Census. It is best known ...
, from 1999 until 2007. From 2007 to 2015, Byrne was pastor of St. Peter's Parish in Washington, DC. While in that position he began a special ministry to Catholic members of the
United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...
. From 2009 to 2015, Byrne was also secretary for pastoral ministry and social concerns for the archdiocese. He served as pastor of Our Lady of Mercy Parish in
Potomac, Maryland Potomac () is a census-designated place (CDP) in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, named after the nearby Potomac River. Potomac is the seventh most educated small town in America, based on percentage of residents with postsecondary deg ...
, from 2015 to 2020.Before his appointment as bishop, Byrne had gained national attention for his writings and
YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
videos.


Bishop of Springfield in Massachusetts

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. ...
named Byrne as bishop of the Diocese of Springfield in Massachusetts on October 14, 2020. He received his episcopal consecration at St. Michael's Cathedral in Springfield on December 14, 2020, from Cardinal Sean O'Malley. In May 2021, Byrne released an expanded list of priests within the diocese who faced credible accusations of
sexual abuse Sexual abuse or sex abuse, also referred to as molestation, is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using force or by taking advantage of another. Molestation often refers to an instance of sexual assa ...
. He said:
As a Church, both locally and universally, too many times in the past we have failed to protect the innocence and dignity of minors from those who committed these heinous crimes. We can never erase the harm done, however, acknowledging a survivor’s allegations to be credible brings the truth of their horrific experience into the light. I offer my most sincere apology to all who have suffered from the abuse and to their loved ones. I am truly sorry.


See also

*
Catholic Church hierarchy The hierarchy of the Catholic Church consists of its bishop (Catholic Church), bishops, Priesthood (Catholic Church), priests, and deacons. In the Catholic ecclesiology, ecclesiological sense of the term, "hierarchy" strictly means the "holy or ...
*
Catholic Church in the United States With 23 percent of the United States' population , the Catholic Church is the country's second largest religious grouping, after Protestantism, and the country's largest single church or Christian denomination where Protestantism is divided i ...
*
Historical list of the Catholic bishops of the United States This is a historical list of all bishops of the Catholic Church whose sees were within the present-day boundaries of the United States, with links to the bishops who consecrated them. It includes only members of the United States Conference of Cat ...
*
List of Catholic bishops of the United States The following is a list of bishops of the Catholic Church in the United States, including its five inhabited territories. The U.S. Catholic Church comprises: * 176 Latin Church dioceses led by bishops * 18 Eastern Catholic eparchies led by ...
*
Lists of patriarchs, archbishops, and bishops This is a directory of patriarchs, archbishops, and bishops across various Christian denominations. To find an individual who was a bishop, see the most relevant article linked below or :Bishops. Lists Catholic * Bishop in the Catholic Chur ...


References


External links


"Five Things with Fr. Byrne" on the Archdiocese of Washington YouTube channelRoman Catholic Docese of Springfield in Massachusetts Official Site

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington Official Site


Episcopal succession

{{DEFAULTSORT:Byrne, William Draper 1964 births Living people Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield in Massachusetts Roman Catholic bishops of Springfield in Massachusetts Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington Catholic Church in Maryland Religious leaders from Washington, D.C. College of the Holy Cross alumni Pontifical North American College alumni Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas alumni 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States Bishops appointed by Pope Francis