Installation of Bishop Solis Will Follow Ancient Rites and Traditions of the Catholic Church

Friday, Mar. 03, 2017

Ancient rites and ceremony will surround the installation of the 10th Bishop of Salt Lake City.

Bishop-Designate Oscar A. Solis, who was appointed by Pope Francis to lead the Diocese of Salt Lake City, will be formally received at the Cathedral of the Madeleine the evening of March 6. The next day will be the celebration of the Solemn Mass and Rite of Canonical Possession, during which the bishop-designate will be installed at the cathedra.

The March 6 ceremony will include Vespers and the Rite of Reception of the Bishop of his Cathedral Church.

Five minutes before sunset that evening, the prelude to the ceremony is scheduled to begin with music by the Saint Patrick Parish Tongan Choir, the Diocese of Salt Lake City Filipino Choir, the organ and the Cathedral of the Madeleine Choir. The repertoire will include Leo Nestor’s arrangement of Phos hilaron, sometimes called the “lamp-lighting hymn.” Originally written in Koine Greek, it is considered the earliest Christian hymn outside of the Bible that still is sung today. The hymn’s title can be translated as “O Gracious Light.”

Before entering the cathedral, Bishop-Designate Solis will be received and welcomed at the doors by Metropolitan Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco and Monsignor Colin F. Bircumshaw, Diocesan Administrator, and the diocesan consultors. Following ancient tradition, Bishop-Designate Solis will knock on the cathedral door. It will be opened, and his reception will include the presentation of a crucifix. He then will go to the baptismal font inside the cathedral and, with an aspergillum filled with holy water, he will walk around the nave and bless the congregation.

As Bishop-Designate Solis takes possession of the Cathedral of the Madeleine, he is symbolically taking possession of the Diocese of Salt Lake City, said Father Martin Diaz, the cathedral rector. 

The knocking at the door has its roots in Scripture: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will enter his house and dine with him, and he with me.” (Rev 3:20)

Because the bishop is Christ the head in the local Church, with the rite of the Greeting at the Door,         symbolically “we’re letting Christ into our lives,” Fr. Diaz said. “The bishop is asking to come in – God does not force himself on us. We are not overwhelmed by God, God asks to come into our lives, gives us the opportunity to welcome Jesus.”

The blessing with the holy water is a recollection of the Sacrament of Baptism. 

“When we bring a new bishop in, our diocese is in a sense born again,” Fr. Diaz said. “It’s a renewal. … God again has come to us and enters into our lives in a special way.”

The crucifix that will be presented during the ceremony is a symbol of redemption. As he enters the cathedral, Bishop-Designate Solis will venerate the crucifix with a kiss. 

“Even though the bishop is our head, it’s a recognition that he stands in the place of Christ,” Fr. Diaz said. “The bishop is here doing Christ’s work.” After the sprinkling with the holy water, the ministers will process into the cathedral to the chancel music, which will be Ecce sacerdos magus (Behold the Great Priest), arranged by James MacMillan. 

Archbishop Cordileone will lead Vespers; Bishop-Designate Solis will preside on the side and give the homily.

The following day, Bishop-Designate Solis will be installed as 10th Bishop of Salt Lake City during the Solemn Mass and Rite of Canonical Possession.

The ceremony will begin with a musical prelude that will include Vivaldi’s Concerto for Two Trumpets and a Handel organ concerto. 

After the entrance hymn, Archbishop Cordileone will give the Sign of the Cross, greeting and introduction at the presider’s chair. The reading of the Apostolic Mandate by Archbishop Christophe Pierre, the Apostolic Nuncio to the United States, will follow. Then will come the Inspection of the Apostolic Mandate by the College of Consultors.

The diocesan Consultors (Msgr. Bircumshaw, Msgr. J. Terrence Fitzgerald, Msgr. Robert Servatius, Msgr. Joseph Mayo, Msgr. Robert Bussen, Fr. Diaz and Fr. Ken Vialpando) are those who advise the bishop or the administrator on matters of governance in the diocese, Fr. Diaz said.

During the first part of the ceremony, Bishop-designate Solis will be standing on the west side of the cathedral. After the Inspection of the Apostolic Mandate, Archbishop Cordileone will lead him to the cathedra – the bishop’s chair – where he will be installed.

The Installation at the Cathedra will be followed by the greeting of representative members of the  faithful, the ecumenical community and civic leaders.

“When they’ve all gone back to their seats, then the Gloria comes” and the Mass will follow its traditional course, Fr. Diaz said.

While the seating for the Mass will be by invitation only, all will be welcome at the public reception at the Salt Lake City Marriott Downtown at City Creek following the Mass.

In addition, Bishop Solis will be the principal celebrant at the regular 11 a.m. (English) and 3 p.m. (Spanish) Masses at the Cathedral of the Madeleine on March 12, to which all the faithful are welcome.  

Open to the public 

March 6, 2017

Cathedral of the Madeleine

6:20 p.m. Prelude will begin

7 p.m. The Greeting at the Door

 Solemn Mass and Rite of Canonical Possession 

Seating by invitation only

March 7, 2017

Cathedral of the Madeleine

1:20 p.m. Prelude will begin 

2 p.m. Solemn Mass and Rite of Canonical Possession

March 7, 2017

Salt Lake City Marriott Downtown at City Creek

6 p.m. to 8 p.m.