When Pope Francis shared eight “Beatitudes for Bishops”, he was across the world from Minnesota, but he couldn’t have felt closer to Bishop Joseph Williams.
When then-Father Joseph Williams’ appointment as auxiliary bishop was publicly announced Dec. 10, he concelebrated a morning Mass at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul with Archbishop Bernard Hebda and held a press conference immediately afterward.
Moments after her son’s episcopal ordination, Mary Williams, 71, smiled with joy and relief while sharing her hopes as Bishop Joseph Williams began his new ministry as auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.
While Bishop Joseph Williams is more likely to be found on a bicycle than on a horse like the Apostle Paul, Archbishop Bernard Hebda observed at Bishop Williams’ ordination Mass Jan. 25, the new bishop may relate to “Apostle to the Gentiles” — even in taking the Nov. 22 phone call announcing Pope Francis had appointed him bishop.
In the weeks before his installation as auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Bishop-elect Joseph Williams, 47, sat down with The Catholic Spirit at the Cathedral of St. Paul for a wide-ranging interview that included key points in his ministry as a pastor
When Pope Francis appointed Father Joseph Williams as bishop-elect of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, he also named him titular bishop of Idassa.
Receiving with grace and gratitude what others have called “great news” — his appointment as bishop — Bishop-elect Joseph Williams also has described his own trepidation and an expectation of suffering in his new role.
From the beginning of their marriage, Bishop-elect Joseph Williams’ parents, Dr. Gary and Mary Williams, knew the kind of family life they wanted. And they were resolute about it being rooted in their Catholic faith.
When Bishop-elect Joseph Williams, as a high school sophomore, debated immigration, he and a classmate argued that people crossing the border without papers break the law and should be prosecuted. As a priest in 2012, he wrote a commentary piece in The Catholic Spirit saying it was hard for him to believe he once held that opinion.
Bishop-elect Joseph Williams brought a different kind of salvation to Norberta Lopez and her family: a physical rescue in the midst of protests and rioting that took place after the May 25, 2020, police-involved killing of George Floyd, an African American.
