Southern Nebraska Register
The Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe and the Catholic Diocese of Lincoln announced Sept. 18 that Msgr. Daniel J. Seiker, a priest of the Diocese of Lincoln, has been appointed executive director of the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in La Crosse, Wisc. He assumes the office Oct. 5.
Founded by Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke, the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in La Crosse, Wisc., welcomes approximately 100,000 pilgrims each year from across the United States and abroad. The Shrine Church was dedicated July 31, 2008. In 2011, Pope Benedict XVI affiliated the Shrine to the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major in Rome, and in 2021 the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization affiliated it to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City.
Msgr. Seiker is currently assigned to the Cathedral of the Risen Christ in Lincoln. He remains a priest of the Diocese of Lincoln and will serve at the Shrine under a three-year agreement between the diocese and the Shrine, which may be renewed. As executive director, he will lead the Shrine’s administration and operations, overseeing its staff and its service to pilgrims. He assumes the office as the Shrine begins a five-year preparation for the 500th anniversary of the apparitions of Our Lady of Guadalupe at Tepeyac. Gregory Marco has served as interim executive director.
“The Shrine is blessed to have this new bond with the Diocese of Lincoln,” said Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke, founder of the Shrine. “My heartfelt thanks to Bishop Conley for permitting Msgr. Seiker to present himself for this office, and to Msgr. Seiker for offering himself in service to Our Lord and His Virgin Mother, Our Lady of Guadalupe, at her Shrine in La Crosse. May Our Lord, through the intercession of His Ever-Perfect Mother, grant Msgr. Seiker an efficacious priestly service at the Shrine.”
Bishop James Conley was pleased to be able to assist the Shrine.
“The Lord has blessed the Diocese of Lincoln with an abundance of priestly vocations over the years,” he said. “I have always tried to be generous with our priests in allowing them to serve a need outside the diocese when they are willing to do so.”
He pointed to the preparation Msgr. Seiker brings to the office.
“Monsignor Seiker has a rich academic background, particularly in the field of canon law, having served as judicial vicar for many years. I released him to serve as college chaplain at Wyoming Catholic College on two different occasions and he was well received by the students. Monsignor Seiker has a great facility with languages, particularly Latin, and is able to offer the Traditional Latin Mass, which will be very helpful at the Shrine.”
Msgr. Seiker expressed gratitude to his bishop.
“I am grateful to His Excellency, Bishop James Conley, for encouraging and allowing me to take on the responsibilities of executive director at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe. I thank him for his generosity in allowing one of his priests to take up this mission.”
He said he hopes to continue and build on the founding vision of the Shrine, to welcome pilgrims to “come away … and rest awhile” (Mk 6:31) and to serve their spiritual needs, “so that by encountering Our Lady of Guadalupe and her motherly blessings, they may be drawn closer to Our Lord Jesus Christ and to the Catholic Church, and return to their homes and parishes refreshed in grace and inspiration,” he said.
“We are in a time of grace leading up to the 500th anniversary of the apparitions of Our Lady at Tepeyac, and the message and miraculous image she gave, which have great relevance in our modern times to bring people to a deeper faith, devotion, and apostolic action, and to share the message with a world in need of rekindling the fire of divine love.”
He said his varied priestly assignments and duties in the Diocese of Lincoln over the years have “providentially prepared me to serve Our Lady and the Lord at this place where the new evangelization is being realized for so many.”
