When Bishop Michael Izen’s appointment as auxiliary bishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis was announced Jan. 5, Archbishop Bernard Hebda said it was providential that the soon-to-be-bishop's titular see would be Neoportus, or Newport, in South Wales.
“How wonderful to have all of you here as we celebrate the ordination of our newest auxiliary,” said Archbishop Bernard Hebda, consecrator and celebrant of the Mass. “I’ve never prayed before that we would have a larger Cathedral, but we could have used one today.”
The letter program isn’t the only aspect of Alexander Marquette’s life touched by Bishop-elect Izen; the bishop-elect was instrumental in Marquette’s early discernment to become a priest.
Quiet time alone with the Lord on a canonically required retreat and a trip to Chicago with Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Williams marked important moments of Bishop-elect Michael Izen’s preparation for his April 11 ordination at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul.
Those who have served with Bishop-elect Michael Izen at the parishes and schools he has ministered to as a priest recall his attentiveness to people’s needs and the love of Christ he strove to bring into every situation.
Bishop-elect Michael Izen worked as a computer systems analyst at 3M in Maplewood from 1989 to 1998. His brother, Paul, is a retired vice president of operations at the company; the two played on the same corporate basketball team.
