From the Desk of
Bishop Edward U. Kmiec

October 28, 2004

Your Eminence, Cardinal Egan; Your Excellency, Archbishop Montalvo; Archbishops and Brother Bishops, Priests and Deacons; Men and Women in Consecrated Life; Religious Leaders; Legislative, Judicial and Civic Leaders; Knights and Ladies; Family, friends, and people of Buffalo - All honored guests, brothers and sisters in the Lord:

As a youngster, growing up in a Polish-American family and environment, I was often part of a wonderful ethnic and faith filled custom, where upon entering a home, especially for the first time, a special salutation was used. Today, I come to a new home, the Diocese and Church of Buffalo, and I greet you in the form and language of that salutation:

Niech będzie Pochwalony Jezus Chrystus!

If the statistical constituency of Catholic Buffalo is correct, I trust that it was understood and resonated in the ears of a great many of you of Polish ethnicity. However, as I come to serve all of the community of faith of Buffalo, in all your diversity and ethnicity, I repeat it in translation as my hello to all of you: Praised be the Lord Jesus Christ!

Indeed, as we say in the prefaces of our Masses: It is right to give our Lord thanks and praise. Just moments ago, installed as the 13th Bishop of Buffalo, these sentiments of thanks and praise to the Lord flooded my heart and whole being, as I stand before this great assemblage in the beautiful St. Joseph's Cathedral.

So it is that first and foremost I give thanks to the Lord our God, who in the mystery of His providence I come to serve the people of God of Buffalo. In second instance, I give thanks to our Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, for the confidence and trust manifested in me to be called and sent in this role of service and leadership. It is a humbling honor to be considered for such a pastoral responsibility and to be designated by the Holy Father himself. I have pledged to the Holy Father, as I do to you today, that I will give all the best that is in me to fulfill this office of service to you all that has been bestowed upon me as we journey forward in faith, hope, and love.

The ritual of the installation of a bishop, which you have witnessed today, is rich in the tradition and symbolism of the Church. The principal element is the Eucharistic celebration at which a new bishop presides for the first time with the assembly of priests and deacons, and with the people of the diocese taking full and active part. As you saw, it was highlighted by the canonical or formal possession of the diocese, the reading of the apostolic letter, and the seating in the bishop's chair. I want to tell you what an honor and privilege it was for me to be ushered by the personal representative of the Holy Father, Archbishop Montalvo, and the Metropolitan Archbishop, Cardinal Egan, to the bishop's chair. I thank them for so honoring me.

In consideration of all its significance, the realization of it is a ponderous prayerful experience and an emotional high, as any bishop here can tell you. At Confirmations, seeing the excitement of the youngsters to be confirmed, I often like to tell them that I am excited too, as I tell them, that bishops can get pumped up also. And dear friends, I assure you, I am pumped up. This is a memory for a lifetime, a peak experience.

To tell you the truth, I have been pumped up for a couple of months now, particularly since receiving the call from the Papal Nuncio Archbishop Montalvo back in early August, advising that the Holy Father had it in mind to appoint me as Bishop of Buffalo. Since I have still not figured out how to say no to an invitation of the Holy Father, I said yes, with humility but to be honest, with some trembling.

What came next was some apprehension and anxiety at the time of coming to Buffalo for the public announcement and introduction. You can't help having some wondering about what kind of reception to expect. Well, that was all quickly dispelled. What great warmth and welcome I experienced at that time. A virtual stranger and unknown, I felt so embraced by you all. It's a wondrous attribute of our Church, but especially of you the people of the eight counties of the Diocese of Buffalo, to accept one sent as a shepherd with such unconditional welcome. It has continued over the past intervening months, as I have received hundreds of letters from you all expressing those same sentiments. I can't fully express how much that touches my heart, as has your welcome of me today. And for that, I thank you all from the bottom of my heart. I'm thrilled to be here, and I look forward with excitement and enthusiasm to walk with you on our journey of faith.

A bit of humor here. Some of my friends have taken note that this installation is on the feast of the apostles Simon and Jude. The latter of the two, St. Jude, is thought by many of our faith as the "patron of hopeless causes." Of course, they meant it for me, wags that they are.

However, I look at St. Jude and his patronage in another way. I call him the "patron of hopeful causes." For that is what the apostles were about, full of hope, as witnesses of the resurrection of Christ and the hope given to all of humanity. As a bishop, and as such, described a successor of the apostles, I too need to share that resurrection hope, for our church and for our community. Hope comes to me easily, as I consider myself an optimist. As such, I look at life and ministry with an open possibility for accomplishment and the building the kingdom of God in our midst.

As I look out upon you, gathered here as the people of God of Buffalo, and all in Western New York as well, I see in you that great potential for God's work.. Without yet knowing you, I feel in all certainly that there is an infinite reservoir of talents and gifts that can be tapped for the service and growth of our church, an evangelizing witness to the world. It is my hope that we can marshal our human and spiritual resources to the good and great things that are the mission of the church, facing challenges and difficulties with faith and courage, and we're pragmatic enough to know that such exist. But we need not be daunted. Hope in Jesus is not a mindless escape from the pain of everyday life. Rather, Christian hope is a virtue which gives us the courage to live each day in the fullness of the spirit who raised Jesus, and will raise each of us. Our prayer can lift us, gives us that glimpse of God's view which sees gateways and bridges where before we saw nothing but walls and dead end streets. We need the spirit and commitment of St. Paul who said: "In Christ, I can do all things."

St. Paul also gives us the context, a context of apostolic love, so reflective of Christ's love. Out of love springs unity, both of community and purpose. How often Paul decried divisions in his communities. With him, we need also to eliminate alienation, conflict, separation, and polarization in our midst. Last night, at a vesper service with priests of our diocese I urged them, as I do you, to a spirit of unity and harmony, borrowing the words of Psalm 133: "How good and pleasant it is, when brothers live in unity." Can we make that our characteristic as we journey forward in faith and love, to be identified as true Christians, as those long ago in the ancient church of Antioch: "See how they love one another."

An important ingredient for unity and harmony is a call for healing and reconciliation. As we make this new beginning today, what a worthy purpose to pursue in our parishes and institutions is a welcoming and inviting spirit, to recover in Christ's love those souls who have lost their way in disillusionment or for other causes in our troubled cultural environment. What a pleasing gift to God that would be.

To accomplish all that we would hope to do as a community of faith in Buffalo, our Holy Father has given us a recipe for a pastoral agenda. The Holy Father has convened the Church for a special Eucharistic year. It might be called a going back to the basics with a renewed focus on the Eucharist. The Holy Father, in his encyclical last year, extolled the Eucharist as the source and culmination of the Church's life, and its importance in the life of each Catholic. In short, the Eucharist has a transforming power that provides the courage to live the faith and to spread the Gospel. What a wonderful opportunity this is for us to appreciate more deeply the unifying force of the Eucharist as the source and summit of the life and mission of the Church, universally and here locally. It is my intent to work quickly with our presbyterate and people to determine an effective way to implement the Holy Father's initiative in our diocese.

Our Holy Father also said "there is a close connection between the Eucharist and announcing Christ." That is such a good fit, since my chief role as a bishop, as I see it, is to bring Christ to the people, all of you. Humbled by the privilege, yet I am nonetheless proud to be here. In the words of our Lord, I come as one to serve, not to be served. Every bishop, indeed every pastor, has his own pastoral style, a unique way through which he images Christ. Mine is as much as one can be, a people person which I am reputed to be and which I seek to convey. My intention is to make my Episcopal motto, "Charity and Service", the characteristic of my ministry, that is, to love and to serve. In the mystery of God's providence and the workings of the Holy Spirit, our pastoral paths merge here in Buffalo. I look forward to meeting you all somehow and somewhere in the days and years to come. It was easier to do that back in Nashville with a smaller community. Here, perhaps you can all wear name badges until I have a chance to get around. Please forgive me of any slowness in getting to know you, but I'll try. With Niagara Falls as part of our diocese, and since it has been a honeymoon destination for generations, may our "honeymoon" here be a lasting and loving one. Together, let us all strive to do great and good things for the Lord. In the words of Psalm 90: "May the divine favor be upon us. Give success to the work of our hands, give success to the work of our hands."

Thanks and God bless you!