Bishop William K. Weigand of Sacramento retires

"I will look at an incident and reflect on it in a meditative way, how the opportunity arose, and what I learned from it," said Bishop Weigand. "I will look at what I learned from it and how it came to be a blessing. My mind at the moment is to write two-page reflections and file them, and then down the road print them. Or, they will be in my papers when I go to God and somebody else will print them.

"My brother who is a monk at Mount Angel Abbey in Oregon would also like to have me come and spend the month of May with him," said Bishop Weigand. "I would like to spend the summer in the Northeast. I will spend some time in Salt Lake City in August. I have been invited for the 100th anniversary of the completion of the Cathedral of the Madeleine."

"While in Utah, there was no task that Bishop Weigand would not undertake, and possibly the most challenging was that of the restoration of our beautiful Cathedral of the Madeleine for the recognition of the centennial of the diocese," said Vicar General Msgr. J. Terrence Fitzgerald. "As we move this summer to the celebration of the centennial of the dedication of our cathedral, it is a great tribute to Bishop Weigand that our cathedral is so well restored and maintained. People in Utah appreciated Bishop Weigand’s generosity, his commitment, his service, and he certainly was missed after he was transferred to Sacramento."

"Healthwise and as far as my liver, I am doing well," said Bishop Weigand. "It will soon be four years on April 1. The disease that I have is primary sclerosing cholangitis. It is a disease that damages and blocks bile ducts inside and outside the liver. It is a gradual sclerosing or scarring of the liver. By the time I had my transplant, my liver was shriveled up smaller than the size of a fist.

"I have life because of the transplant, which revived me right away," said Bishop Weigand. "I had been quite sick for a long time. I could still function, and some days were worse than others. But I went from severe weakness to new vigor. So it was marvelous. That was so notable that the rather lengthy recuperation and pain involved did not seem like anything because I had new energy and new life. Everything started to rebuild real fast.

"I had no rejection of the organ," said Bishop Weigand. "I have been one of the very blessed ones. I still have the disease, which is an auto-immune disease. If I live long enough, the same disease could affect the new liver. But I am almost 72, and it develops very slowly. They tell me I will probably die of something else.

"The gift that Dan Haverty, the fire chief and living donor, who donated part of his liver to me, is wonderful. He and his wife, Sandy are doing well. I see them a lot. We are good friends now. He really put his life on the line."

Bishop Weigand said the waiting list for cadaver transplants are very long and he was far from the top. After much research, consultation with doctors and moral theologians, prayer, his health circumstances, the sense of putting somebody else at risk, and the fact they were determined to be excellent candidates with a modest level of risk that outweighed the dangers, he decided to go ahead with the transplant. There has to be a proportionate reason and expectation of a good outcome. It was determined there was in his case.

"Haverty is on constant call as a speaker to tell of his experience," said Bishop Weigand. "He is called on constantly by the Golden State Organ Donors Association to talk about organ donation. He has done an immense amount of good because of helping me. He and his wife are people of deep faith."

Bishop Weigand said he ruled out anyone who had children still at home and needed both parents. He had no family members that qualified as donors.

"My greatest health problems are unrelated to my liver," said Bishop Weigand. "I have very severe arthritis that has affected my spinal column in three places, particularly in the neck. I have bone growths there that are impinging upon major nerves that are most annoying from the neck into the shoulders.

"That was part of my decision also to step down," said Bishop Weigand. "I also have arthritis in my hands and thumbs. I try not to pay attention to them. Otherwise I am mobile. I am out riding my bicycle. I hope to do some fishing, and get back to the gym. Part of the problem with the back and shoulders is not enough exercise. I am real positive actually about my health."

The Most Rev. Bishop John C. Wester, Bishop of the Diocese of Salt Lake City, said he has a great admiration and respect for Bishop Weigand as his predecessor two bishops ago.

"He is a great man of the Church," said Bishop Wester. "He is very dedicated, spiritual, and very much eager to promote the work of the Church. I can see his handwriting on so many of the committees, boards, and commissions here in Salt Lake City.

"Bishop Weigand is so much a part of our successful programs here in Utah," said Bishop Wester. "For example, the Catholic Foundation of Utah. He has a great missionary zeal to reach out to the people in the rural areas of Utah. He is very committed to the poor, and living a life of simplicity himself. He spent many years in the missions, and he brought that missionary spirit with him to Utah. It is very evident, because to this day, we have the missions as a priority.

"I think he is a man who is very close to the Word. He went through a life and death experience with his liver transplant," said Bishop Wester. "Throughout the ordeal, he exhibited tremendous faith in Jesus Christ, tremendous faith in God’s mercy and God’s providence. I wish him many happy years in his retirement. I hope he rests, but I don’t think he will. I hope he comes back to Utah often to visit us, and remembers this is his home as a brother and as a former bishop."

Msgr. Fitzgerald said during Bishop Weigand’s time in Utah he proved himself to be one of the most dedicated and hard working bishops we have known in our history. He was committed to developing the missions throughout rural Utah, to expanding facilities, especially for the growing Hispanic population. Bishop Weigand did his best to recruit Spanish-speaking priests for the pastoral care of this growing community, and he truly became a native of Utah by reason of his total commitment and dedication."

When Bishop Weigand became bishop of Salt Lake City in 1980, he said Archbishop Jean Jadot, who is 93, told him there were three areas he needed to work on: vocations to the priesthood, the Hispanic ministry, and finance in the diocese.

"So I worked on those things," said Bishop Weigand. "I agreed with them. That was one of the reasons I was chosen for Salt Lake City. I had spent almost 10 years in South America in Cali, Columbia, and I knew Spanish. I had organizational and administrative skills to work on those three areas. I don’t take credit, everyone said those were the needs, and we worked together to solve those needs."

Bishop Weigand said the needs involved far more Spanish Masses around the valley over time, and attention to be paid to the missions made up of Hispanics.

"Shortly after Bishop Weigand was ordained, he addressed the priests in the diocese, and was talking about what he expected of himself as a bishop and asked us of our hopes and desires," said Msgr. Robert Servatius, pastor of Blessed Sacrament Parish who worked in the diocese under Bishop Weigand. "It was quite a free exchange, but very evident to me, at least, he had a vision, and he wanted to know how we could help with that vision. He had 13 objectives, and he accomplished them all."

Bishop Weigand said he was 10 years old when he felt a calling to the priesthood.

"I was a shy youngster and kept it to myself," said Bishop Weigand. "It was during Lent in 1948, when I was 11 years old. I went across town to the 6 a.m. Mass to Academy Chapel about 40 miles south of Spokane, Wash., where we were living.

Bishop Weigand said his mother was a convert when she married his father, who was raised Catholic. His father was the Catholic leader of the family. They never missed Mass even on vacation, however they did not attend daily Mass. They attended the Stations of the Cross during Lent, and weekly or monthly benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.

"So it was unusual for me to get up and go to morning Mass," said Bishop Weigand. "I walked a mile and a half or so. I just felt called to do it, and by the end of that Lent, I knew I wanted to be a priest.

"I was a young priest in Idaho for the first five years, and by then the Boise Diocese had opened a mission project with Cali, Columbia. I was working at the bishop’s office and had been ordained five years when I left for Columbia for 10 years.

"I want to tell the good people of Utah I have never stopped loving them and praying for them, and I hope to be able to do that even better and more now that I have more leisure," said Bishop Weigand.