Bishop's Dinner features Archbishop Niederauer

Intermountain Catholic

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Archbishop George H. Niederauer gives his keynote address during the 10th Annual Bishop's Dinner at the Grand America Hotel. IC photo/Marie Mischel

SALT LAKE CITY — The Diocese of Salt Lake City celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Bishop’s Dinner, an annual fundraiser for the Cathedral of the Madeleine, on Sept. 26.

Among the many dignitaries at the dinner were Utah Gov. Gary Herbert, Elder M. Russell Ballard and Elder Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as well as Gérald Caussé of the Presiding Bishopric; Khosrow B. Semnani and other representatives of Utah’s Muslim community; representatives of other Utah faith communities, and numerous priests of the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City, including Monsignor Colin F. Bircumshaw, the vicar general, and Monsignor J. Terrence Fitzgerald, vicar general emeritus.

Last year’s dinner helped fund several projects at the cathedral, including an upgrade of the lighting system, hosting the national Cathedral Ministry Conference and supporting the Madeleine Choir School’s European tour.

This year’s dinner, which was attended by about 600 people, will fund projects such as improving handicap access.

The keynote speaker for the 10th annual Bishop’s Dinner was Archbishop emeritus George H. Niederauer of San Francisco, the eighth bishop of Salt Lake City.

In introducing his predecessor, Bishop John C. Wester said the archbishop has lived up to his motto, "To serve and to give."

"Archbishop Niederauer has been a dear friend to me and to so many who are here, to so many in our Church and beyond in the United States," Bishop Wester said. "His service is second to none, and none has given more. I am deeply proud to be his successor, and I’m delighted to welcome him to our Bishop’s Dinner tonight."

Archbishop Niederauer said he drew his motto from the Gospel passage in which Jesus tells his apostles that "whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all, for the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve. ..."

For centuries this message has been a challenge to all Catholic leaders, including bishops, and by extension the cathedral, the principal church of the diocese, in which the bishop has his chair, the symbol of his authority, the archbishop said.

"If the cathedral is the first church of the diocese, then it must follow that the cathedral is preeminently the servant church of the diocese. The virtues that characterize a good bishop also characterize a good cathedral," he said. He went on to list the qualities of a good bishop, including courage, fidelity and strength, zeal and pastoral solicitude, pastoral outreach and accessibility.

"The bishop needs to be a leader in prayer and worship, and a good preacher and teacher of the Gospel. He needs to be humble, not insisting first, last and always on his rights and prerogatives. The bishop should care for the entire community of God’s children, not just the members of his church. He needs courage and patience in the face of adversity and adversaries," Archbishop Niederauer said.

Likewise, a cathedral leads by example, with exemplary liturgies not just on special occasions but daily and during Sunday celebrations, the archbishop said.

The Cathedral of the Madeleine’s Good Samaritan program, which daily serves the poor and homeless, and its liturgical music and choir school all complement each other, and challenge the groups that support each one to come together to back one another’s activities, "showing that the whole witness is greater than the sum of its parts," he said.

In today’s world, with its emphasis on secular values, "just by being itself, and continuing to be itself, the Cathedral of the Madeleine uniquely is placed within this local Church and community to bring God’s people together in worship and prayer, then proclamation of the Word, and the teaching of the faith, and then to lead them all together in service to the world, always preaching the Gospel, and, as Saint Francis of Assisi said so well, ‘when necessary, using words,’" Archbishop Niederauer said.

In his closing remarks, Bishop Wester echoed the archbishop’s words, saying that the Cathedral of the Madeleine is a sign of many things: God’s loving providence, the Church universal, the Catholic community’s service to the poor, and of beauty.

"All of this is possible because of you and so many more, the past, present and future, who care about the Cathedral of the Madeleine and what it is and what it does," Bishop Wester said.