Just a few weeks after the Roman Catholic church elected a new pope, the Diocese of Providence finally has a new bishop.
Bishop Bruce Lewandowski, the former auxiliary bishop of Baltimore, is now the 10th Bishop of Providence after a solemn Mass of Installation Tuesday at the cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul.
A representative of the Papal Nuncio, the pope’s ambassador to Washington, read out an English translation of the new bishop’s Apostolic Mandate, the document in which Pope Francis officially appointed him to the Diocese of Providence.
Then Monsignor John Paul Pedrero swore him in.
“Are you willing to accept this See in the tradition of the apostolic faith of the church?” the monsignor asked.
“With faith in our lord Jesus Christ and with the love of God in my heart,” the new bishop replied, “I do accept the pastoral care of the people of God in the Diocese of Providence and I resolve to serve faithfully the spiritual needs of this local church.”
The new bishop then held up the Apostolic Mandate for all to see before taking the bishop’s chair, for the first time, in front of the altar.
Lewandowski’s immediate predecessor, Archbishop Richard Henning, served just a few months before being promoted to lead the Archdiocese of Boston after Cardinal Sean O’Malley retired. O’Malley was among several prelates on hand for the installation.
Born in Toledo, Ohio, Bishop Bruce is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese in addition to English. In Baltimore, a big part of his ministry involved outreach to the Hispanic community. Lewandowski led the effort for a special diocesan ID card for immigrants.
In his homily, the new bishop told the faithful his idea of heaven is ice cream.
“To me, it’s heavenly because you can eat as much as you want and not get full,” he said.
The new Providence prelate, known for his informal pastoral approach, has encouraged people to call him “Bishop Bruce.”
