BOARD OF EPISCOPAL ADVISORS

Board of Episcopal Advisors

The Spitzer Center Board of Episcopal Advisors is made up of diocesan Bishops and Archbishops whose patronage and counsel have been, and continue to be, instrumental in advancing the mission of the Spitzer Center for Visionary Leadership.

The Most Reverend Michael J. Byrnes

Coadjutor Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Agana in U.S. Territory of Guam

Archbishop-designate Byrnes was born in 1958 in Detroit to Patrick and Marie Byrnes. He grew up in Detroit, where he graduated from Detroit Catholic Central High School in 1976. He then attended the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in microbiology in 1979. Active in the Charismatic Renewal movement, he served as office manager for the outreach group Servant Ministries in Ann Arbor from 1985 until 1990. He entered formation at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit in 1990, where he later earned a Master of Divinity degree and a Master of Arts degree with a concentration in Scripture. He was ordained May 25, 1996, at the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Detroit by then-archbishop Cardinal Adam Maida.

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Archbishop-designate Byrnes considers his great-uncle, Fr. Remy McCoy, an order priest of the Missionaries of Africa who served in Ghana, as a major influence on his path to the priesthood. Fr. McCoy passed away in 1990. Archbishop-designate Byrnes began his priestly ministry as associate pastor at St. Joan of Arc parish in St. Clair Shores and as an adjunct faculty member at Sacred Heart Major Seminary. He served in those roles until 1999, at which time he departed to Rome to study at the Pontifical Gregorian University. He earned his Doctorate in Sacred Theology in 2003. Returning to Detroit, he joined the faculty of Sacred Heart Major Seminary and served as weekend assistant at three Detroit parishes: Presentation/Our Lady of Victory, St. Gregory the Great, and Church of the Madonna.

In January 2004 he was named Vice Rector of Sacred Heart Major Seminary and also pastor of Presentation/Our Lady of Victory, where Deacon Hubert Sanders is the deacon administrator. Additionally, between 2007 and 2009, he served on the archdiocesan Presbyteral Council. After being ordained a bishop on May 5, 2011, Archbishop-designate Byrnes assisted Archbishop Vigneron in pastoral oversight of the northeast region of the Archdiocese of Detroit, which includes parts of Macomb, St. Clair and Lapeer counties. In October 2012, Archbishop-designate Byrnes was asked by Archbishop Vigneron to lead key efforts in the Archdiocese of Detroit related to evangelization. These efforts include the Unleash the Gospel New Evangelization initiative and the upcoming Archdiocesan synod.

On October 31, 2016, The Most Rev. Michael J. Byrnes was appointed Coadjutor Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Agana in U.S. Territory of Guam in the South Pacific. He was previously appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Detroit and Titular Bishop of Eguga on March 22, 2011 and ordained Auxiliary Bishop of Detroit on May 5, 2011. Archbishop-designate Byrnes’s father and stepmother, Roberta, live in Farmington Hills; his mother passed away in 1991. He has one brother, three stepsisters, four nieces and two nephews. Among Archbishop designate Byrnes’s passions is participating in marathons and triathlons.

The Most Reverend Shelton J. Fabre

Bishop of the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux

Bishop Fabre was born October 25, 1963 in New Roads, Louisiana and is the fifth of six children. He was ordained a Deacon on December 10, 1988 by Archbishop Peter L. Gerety at St. Jan-de-Doperkerk in Leuven, Belgium and then ordained a Priest on August 5, 1989 by Bishop Stanley J. Ott at St. Joseph Cathedral in Baton Rouge, LA. In December of 2006 he was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of New Orleans by Pope Benedict XVI; later ordained an Auxiliary Bishop of New Orleans by Archbishop Alfred C. Hughes at the Cathedral-Basilica of St. Louis, King of France, in New Orleans on February 28, 2007. In September 2013 he was appointed Bishop of Houma-Thibodaux and installed as Bishop in October of 2013.

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Bishop Fabre holds an MA and BA in Religious Studies from the Katholiek Universiteit te Leuven in Louvain, Belgium and a BA in History from St. Joseph Seminary-College in St. Benedict, LA. He graduated from Catholic High School of Pointe Coupee in New Roads, LA. Since September 2013 he has served as Bishop of the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaus. Prior to that he was Auxiliary Bishop of New Orleans, Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia. He also served as Pastor and/or Associate Pastor of many churches within Louisiana between 1989 and 2007. He is a Member of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and serves as Chair of the Subcommittee for African-American Catholics.

The Most Reverend Ronald W. Gainer

Bishop of the Diocese of Harrisburg

Bishop Gainer was born August 24, 1947, in Pottsville, PA. After studies for the priesthood he was ordained a Priest for the diocese of Allentown on May 19, 1973. He completed studies at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia, earning a Master of Divinity degree, summa cum laude and has earned a licentiate degree in Canon Law and a diploma in Latin Letter from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome in 1986. Bishop Gainer was consecrated and installed as Bishop of Lexington, KY on February 22, 2003. He was then appointed the eleventh Bishop of Harrisburg by his Holiness Pope Francis on January 24, 2014 and was installed as Bishop of Harrisburg on March 19, 2014.

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For much of his Priesthood Bishop Gainer served in parish, campus ministry, marriages and family, and tribunal positions. As Secretary of Catholic Life and Evangelization for the Diocese of Allentown he supervised 14 diocesan offices and the promotion of the works of spiritual renewal and evangelization. He currently serves as President of the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference. On the national level, he is a member of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). He has served as Chair of the Region III and V of the USCCB as well as having served on the Administrative Committee, the Committee on Priorities and Planning, the Committee on Catholic Education, the Committee for Canonical Affairs and Church Governance, as well as a regional representative to the USCCB Committee for the Protection of Children and Young People, and liaison with the North American Forum on the Catechumenate. He is also on the Board of Directors of: Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary, Cross Catholic Outreach and Holy Family Radio.

The Most Reverend George J. Lucas

Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Omaha

Archbishop Lucas was born June 12, 1949 in Saint Louis, Missouri and is the eldest son of the late George J. Lucas and Mary Catherine Kelly. He has one sister and two brothers. He completed his studies at Cardinal Glennon College and Kenrick-Glennon Seminary in Saint Louis, and was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of St. Louis on May 24, 1975, by Cardinal John Joseph Carberry. As a priest, Lucas served as associate pastor in parishes in Sunset Hills, Florissant, St. Louis, Normandy and Kirkwood, Missouri.

Archbishop Lucas took advanced studies at Saint Louis University. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy and Master of Arts degree in history.

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In the years leading to his ordination as a bishop in Springfield, he served on the faculty of St. Louis Preparatory Seminary-North and St. Louis Preparatory Seminary, the chancellor and vicar general of the Archdiocese of St. Louis and rector of Kenrick-Glennon Seminary. He was named Honorary Prelate of His Holiness in 1994.

In 2011 Archbishop Lucas was elected to the Catholic Relief Services Board of Directors.

The Most Reverend Thomas J. Olmsted

Bishop of the Diocese of Phoenix

Bishop Olmsted was born on January 21, 1947. Having been reared on a family farm on the Kansas-Nebraska border, he attended a single-room grade school near Oketo, Kansas, and a small rural high school in Summerfield, Kansas. His first contact with Catholic schools came when he entered St. Thomas Seminary College in Denver, Colo., from which he graduated in 1969 with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy.

Prior to his arrival in Phoenix he served as Bishop of Wichita, Kansas, after being ordained Coadjutor Bishop on April 20, 1999. Before serving in Wichita, he served as the Rector / President of the Pontifical College Josephinum, a Catholic Seminary in Columbus, Ohio.

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Since 1974, Bishop Olmsted has been a member of the Jesus Caritas fraternity of priests, and thus has been deeply influenced by the witness and wisdom of Charles de Foucauld and by the prayers and encouragement of many brother priests.

For 16 years, Bishop Olmsted lived in Rome, Italy, where he obtained a master’s degree in theology, a doctorate in Canon Law, and worked more than nine years in the Secretariat of State of the Holy See. During the nine years of serving in the Holy See, he resided at the Pontifical North American College and assisted seminarians with spiritual direction. The Most Reverend Thomas J. Olmsted was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Lincoln, Neb., July 2, 1973. He was installed as the fourth Bishop of the Diocese of Phoenix on December 20, 2003.

The Most Reverend James S. Wall

Bishop of the Diocese of Gallup

Bishop Wall was born in Ganado, Arizona in 1964 to parents James A. Wall and Joan Wall. Along with his parents and five siblings, he continued to live in Arizona for his young adult life, attending public school in Chandler, AZ, and continuing to college at Arizona State University in Tempe, AZ, where he studied history.

Throughout college, he felt the call from God to become a priest, and after college entered St. John Seminary in Camarillo, California, and was ordained a priest on June 6, 1998 for service in the Diocese of Phoenix. He served as Parochial Vicar at Saint Theresa Parish from 1998-2001 and Saint Timothy Parish from 2001-2002. Bishop Wall served as Pastor of Saint Thomas the Apostle Parish from 2002-2007. From 2006 until his episcopal consecration he served as Vicar for Priests for The Most Reverend Thomas J. Olmsted, Bishop of Phoenix.

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During his time in Phoenix, Bishop Wall was a member of the Presbyteral Council and College of Consultors. He served on the Natural Family Planning Board; as the Chaplain for the Phoenix Legatus Chapter; and as a spiritual adviser for Rachel’s Vineyard Retreats. He was a member of the National Advisory Council of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and an Advisory Board member of the Institute for Priests and Presbyterate in St. Meinrad, Indiana.

He is a fourth degree member of the Knights of Columbus and a member of the Equestrian Order of the Knights and Ladies of the Holy Sepulcher.

On February 5, 2009, Bishop Wall was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI as the fourth Bishop of the Diocese of Gallup, and was consecrated and installed officially on April 23, 2009.

Bishop Wall’s episcopal motto is “Be Doers of the Word”, from the Epistle of St. James: “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves (James 1:22).” This passage is to remind us that we must not only listen to the words of Christ, but put them into daily action, following the teachings of Our Lord.