Bishop-elect introduced to diocese

By RENEE WEBB and DAWN PROSSER
Lumen Media staff
 
After nearly three years of waiting, the Diocese of Sioux City announced at a Feb. 12 press conference at Central Catholic Offices in Sioux City that Pope Francis had selected a priest to serve as the eighth bishop of the diocese and succeed Bishop Walker Nickless.

Bishop Nickless, who has served the diocese since 2006, announced Father John E. Keehner of the Diocese of Youngstown, Ohio would be his successor and bishop-elect for the Diocese of Sioux City. The bishop-elect is currently pastor of four parishes in Ashtabula County, Ohio.

Bishop Nickless did admit that the occasion was “bittersweet’ as he has enjoyed his 19-plus years as bishop of the diocese but was happy to receive the phone call from the apostolic nuncio that the Ohio priest was appointed as the next bishop.

“I want to thank the Holy Father for the great gift that we have in our new bishop,” Bishop Nickless said. “We have a good and holy priest. He has a sense of humor, he’s humble and he’s willing to serve. I promised him my support and the help that he will need to go through the transition. We are very blessed.”

He said the clergy and faithful of the diocese would soon learn that the bishop-elect was a man of “high quality,” to lead the diocese.

“Please pray for Bishop-elect Keehner and support and love him as you have done for me,” said Bishop Nickless. “May he be blessed with wisdom and grace and lead us as a shepherd in this Jubilee Year of Hope. May he be a sign of hope for all of us.”

Bishop-elect Keehner said he was truly humbled and a little overwhelmed by the Holy Father’s decision to name him a bishop.

“So, I stand before you truly humbled by the Holy Father’s trust in my abilities and truly grateful that the Holy Spirit is in charge and that my best course of action is to get out of the way and allow the Holy Spirit to lead me and guide me, to allow myself to decrease that Christ might increase,” said the bishop-elect.

As is required by canon law, Bishop Nickless on his 75^th birthday submitted his resignation to Pope Francis. While his resignation was submitted on May 28, 2022, it wasn’t formally accepted until his successor was named on Feb. 12.

Now that retirement was in sight for the seventh bishop of the diocese, the bishop-elect extended congratulations and paraphrased the words of Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel – “well done good and faithful servant.”

The bishop-elect’s ordination Mass will be celebrated May 1 at 2 p.m. at the Sioux City Cathedral of the Epiphany.

For his episcopal motto, he selected the words of his patron saint, St. John the Baptist: He must increase; I must decrease.

“I chose these words fully conscious that if I am to serve effectively, I must choose everyday to let go of myself, to let go of my ego and to allow Jesus Christ to manifest himself to me, to reveal his will to me so that I can get out of the way of that will so that his will and not my will be done,” said the bishop-elect.   

Introductory Mass at the Cathedral Feb. 12The bishop-elect was also introduced to the faith community following the press conference. Bishop Nickless celebrated the noon Mass at the Cathedral and Bishop-Elect Keehner offered the homily. Clergy from around the diocese attended as well as chancery staff and faithful from the area.

The call
Bishop-elect Keehner shared “the call” he received on Jan. 28 that has altered the trajectory of his priestly ministry.

He was about to go into an important meeting when the caller ID on his cell phone listed Apostolic N. The bishop-elect said with a laugh that he wondered if he had done something wrong. He had received calls in the past from the nunciature years earlier in work as a canon lawyer regarding permissions for inter-ritual weddings.

But nothing could be farther from that scenario as Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States, called the priest of the Diocese of Youngstown to tell him Pope Francis had appointed him the eighth Bishop of the Diocese of Sioux City.

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“I remember asking, ‘Is this a joke?’ I thought I was being pranked,” said the bishop-elect, who acknowledged he didn’t remember much of the conversation.

Once off the phone, he did a Google map search for Sioux City because he had no idea where it was and then contacted his bishop, Bishop David Bonnar. His bishop was expecting his call and helped to talk him down from “the proverbial ledge and reassured me that everything would be okay.”

It wasn’t long after that conversation when Bishop Walker Nickless called him, which the bishop-elect found to be a blessing – calming and reassuring.

Iowa bishop statements
Davenport Bishop Dennis Walsh, fellow Ohio native, offered his congratulations to the bishop-elect in a Feb. 13 statement.

Bishop Dennis Walsh“I offer my heartfelt congratulations to Bishop-elect John Keehner on his appointment to the See of Sioux City. I offer him my fraternal support and assure him of my continued prayers as he prepares to lead the faithful of the Diocese of Sioux City. May God bless his ministry among them,” the Davenport bishop wrote.He also expressed his appreciation for the faithful service of retiring Bishop Nickless.

“I also extend my sincere gratitude to Bishop Walker Nickless for his 19 years of faithful service as Bishop of Sioux City. He has led the diocese through so many grace-filled moments in the life of that local church,” Bishop Walsh said. “It speaks volumes of his deep affection for the people that he has chosen to remain in Iowa for his retirement. I pray that his retirement is filled with joy and peace.”

Dubuque Archbishop Thomas Zinkula offered a statement Feb. 12 to welcome a new brother bishop in Sioux City and to express his appreciation for Bishop Nickless.

“With great joy, we embrace today’s news of the appointment of a new shepherd for the Diocese of Sioux City,” the archbishop wrote. “We also extend our heartfelt gratitude to Bishop R. Walker Nickless for his 19 years of dedicated leadership, collaboration and service. Bishop-elect Keehner is the answer to the diocesan prayer for a bishop of ‘sound body, mind and spirit’ to ‘lead the Diocese of Sioux City anew.’

Archbishop Zinkula“As a proud Iowa native, I can confidently affirm that Bishop-elect Keehner will be met with a community of clergy and laity that is welcoming and steadfast in faith. And as the metropolitan archbishop of the Province of Dubuque [State of Iowa], it is a pleasure to welcome Father John to the Hawkeye State as he joins Bishop Dennis Walsh of Davenport as yet another esteemed spiritual father from the Buckeye State! May the prayers of the Iowa faithful assist Bishop-elect Keehner in his new ministry and continue supporting Bishop Nickless in his retirement.”

Background
Born Nov. 19, 1965, in Youngtown, the son of the late John and Betty Keehner, the bishop-elect is one of five children. His living siblings include twin sister Carol, and brothers Jerry and Richard. They grew up in Austintown, a Youngstown suburb.

A product of a public education, the bishop-elect pointed out his family did not attend Mass regularly; in fact, he said he could count on his hand the number of times they went to Mass together.

The future priest was repeatedly drawn back to the church through music, volunteering in the parish and by his fellow Immaculate Heart of Mary parishioners who encouraged him to attend Mass and later encouraged his priestly vocation.

Bishop-elect Keehner and Bishop Nickless distribute Communion at MassHe pursued studies at the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio where he double-majored in English and Latin American studies. He also studied at St. Mary’s of the West Seminary in Cincinnati where he earned a master of divinity and master of arts in biblical studies. The bishop-elect later received a licentiate in canon law from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome.

Ordained a priest by Bishop James Malone on June 12, 1993, in St. Columba Cathedral in Youngstown, Father Keehner later served there six years as vice rector and six years as rector. In addition to parish ministry, he has served as a judge at the diocesan Department of Canonical Services (tribunal) and campus ministry. The bishop-elect also taught canon law as an adjunct at St. Mary Seminary in Cleveland.

He was assigned in 2024 as pastor of his current parishes - Our Lady Queen of Peace Parish Ashtabula, Corpus Christi Parish in Conneat, St. Andrew Bobola Parish in Kingsville and Assumption of the Blessed Mary Parish in Geneva.

“I leave a presbyterate for whom I have the utmost respect, love and admiration,” he said of his brother priests in Ohio.

The Keehner family has roots in the Youngstown area dating back to 1798 and the bishop-elect said he always believed that area would be his home. However, from his experience in previous moves and reassignments, he grew to love each new location and its people and the next move should be the same.

“Now it must be my home away from home as I move here to Sioux City and make my home here as bishop,” he said.
Delivering a portion of his comments in Spanish at the press conference, Bishop-elect Keehner noted he would not consider himself fluent, although he has a minor in Spanish. While he described his skills as “rusty,” he does celebrate a Spanish Mass at one of his parishes.

“I’ve re-upped my subscription to Babbel,” he quipped.

Bishop-elect Keehner said he was grateful to God who continually amazes him with love in unexpected ways.

“To you, the members of God's faithful people in the Diocese of Sioux City, to you, the priests, the religious, the lay men and women and children who live and work and pray here, I pledge my life, my sweat, my daily prayers and I promise to work with you to continue the good work begun here so many years ago,” said the bishop-elect.

He is hopeful that together “we might allow Christ in us to increase and among us so in turn we might be a light to the world around us.”