Fr. Patrick Neary, CSC, has been appointed by Pope Francis as bishop of the Diocese of Saint Cloud. Fr. Neary’s episcopal ordination and installation will be February 14.

“No one is more surprised than I am to be asked to serve as bishop of the Diocese of St. Cloud,” Neary said. “Yet I have always trusted that Christ has guided me through every stage of my life as a priest. I so look forward to meeting everyone who is a part of this diocese, my new family. I especially ask God to help me build on the legacy of Bishop Kettler and all the clergy and personnel who serve in the diocese with zeal and devotion.”

Neary is the oldest of six children of Jacob and Marybelle Neary of LaPorte, Indiana. He attended the University of Notre Dame as an undergraduate seminarian with the Congregation of Holy Cross, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in history in 1985. Neary entered the Holy Cross novitiate the following August in Cascade, Colorado. He received his master of divinity from the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, California, in 1990 and took final vows that September. Neary was ordained to the priesthood on April 6, 1991.

Neary has served in a variety of ministries with Holy Cross, including associate pastor at St. John Vianney Parish, Goodyear, Arizona; assistant vocations director for campus ministry at the University of Notre Dame; formation staff member and rector at Moreau Seminary at Notre Dame; and pastor of Holy Redeemer Church in Portland, Oregon. He also served the congregation in Africa as rector of the McCauley House of Formation in Nairobi, Kenya, and district superior of East Africa.

“Fr. Pat is a highly respected and deeply faithful priest and pastor,” adds Rev. William M. Lies, CSC, provincial superior of the Congregation of Holy Cross, U.S. Province of Priests and Brothers. “His leadership at our seminary at Notre Dame, as well as in our District of East Africa when he was superior, was exemplary. I could not be happier for Fr. Pat and the Diocese of St. Cloud, my home diocese. It is all a blessing! We will pray for Fr. Pat as he prepares to take on this important role as shepherd of the good people of the St. Cloud Diocese.”