Consecration of Bishop Wesley Śpiewak CR

Bishop elect Spiewak Photo2On October 1, 2015, in the Cathedral of St. Therese of the Child Jesus in Hamilton, Bermuda, Fr. Wesley Śpiewak, C.R. was ordained as bishop, the first member of the Polish Province of Resurrectionists to be called to this ministry. The principal consecrator of the new ordinary of the Diocese of Hamilton was Bishop emeritus Robert Kurtz, C.R., who was assisted by co-consecrators Archbishop Nicola Girasoli, Apostolic Nuncio of the Antilles Episcopal Conference, and Archbishop Patrick Pinder, current President of the Antilles Bishops.

Also participating in the solemn Eucharist were several bishops of the Antilles Conference, our Superior General Fr. Bernard Hylla, C.R., and two General Councilors, as well as the priests of the Hamilton Diocese, several Resurrectionists representing all of our Provinces, the Archdeacon of the Anglican Church in Bermuda and a church full of enthusiastic faithful from all parts of the Diocese.  

After Bishop Kurtz welcomed the concelebrants and the many visitors, in the Liturgy of the Word the Apostolic Nuncio preached the homily. While calling the new bishop to serve the local church with his enthusiasm, he also gave recognition to Bishop Kurtz for his twenty years of dedicated ministry in the Diocese.

The ordination ceremony then began with the reading of the papal bull by the Vicar General of the Diocese, Fr. Paul Voisin, C.R., and the candidate Fr. Śpiewak expressed publicly his willingness to accept ordination. After the sung Litany of Saints by the assembly and the silent imposition of hands by the consecrating bishops, Bishop Kurtz and concelebrating bishops prayed the prayer of ordination as the Book of the Gospels was held open above the candidate's head by the attending priests, Fr. Bernard Hylla and former superior general Fr. Sutherland MacDonald, C.R. Bishop Śpiewak was then anointed with chrism and presented with the episcopal insignia: miter, crosier and ring. At the end of the Eucharist, presided by Bishop Wesley, the new Ordinary of Bermuda thanked all who had prepared the Liturgy as well as the many visitors, indluding his sister Alice and her husband Stanislaus who had travelled from Poland.

The episcopal motto of Bishop Wesley is, "Deus caritas est, Alleluia" (God is love, Alleluia). His coat of arms, designed by Fr. Lucjan Bartkowiak, C.R., bears symbols of Bermuda - a local plant; the bishop's home town of Cracow, Poland; and the vexillum, emblem of the Congregation of the Resurrection.herb biskupa

A five-minute video of the ordination may be found here.

 

 

 

 

Posted on Oct 2015,