By Andrew Winter
1. Before its official establishment as a diocese, the Nebraska Territory had three bishops who presided over it as a vicariate: Bishop John Baptist Miege, S.J., Bishop James O’Gorman, O.C.S.O., and Bishop James O’Connor. It has also had many apostolic administrators who have managed the bishopric while the office of bishop was absent. Apostolic administrators of Lincoln include: Father Michael A. Shine, Msgr. Albert Petrasch, Msgr. Alois J. Klein, Msgr. Francis A. O’Brien, Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz, and Archbishop George Lucas.
2. When Pope Leo XIII created the Diocese of Lincoln, Bishop Thomas Bonacum was appointed its first ordinary in 1877. A native Irishman, he was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of St. Louis, and studied in Bavaria. Even though it was a freezing December day when he arrived in Lincoln, the people came out to welcome him in great numbers. Bishop Bonacum set about visiting every parish in the diocese, and made it his great mission to build more parishes, schools, and hospitals in southern Nebraska. He died in 1911.
3. J. Henry Tihen succeeded Bishop Bonacum. Tihen, the oldest of 10 children, also began his priesthood in the Archdiocese of St. Louis. He came to the bishopric of Lincoln at Bishop Bonacum’s death. Bishop Tihen was known for his incredible skill as a preacher, and helped dispel much of the anti-Catholic sentiment festering in Nebraska at that time. He left Nebraska in 1917 when he was named bishop of Denver.
4. Charles O’Reilly was born in New Brunswick, Canada, but was ordained a priest in the Diocese of Portland, Ore. Before his appointment to the See of Lincoln he served as the first bishop of Baker City, Ore. The large, poor, and stressful office damaged his health, so that when he came to Lincoln in 1918, his energy had diminished. He guided the Lincoln Diocese through the horrible Spanish flu epidemic, and worked to build targeted ministries for Mexicans and Czechs in the diocese. He died on the 12th anniversary of Bishop Bonacum’s death.
5. Bishop O’Reilly was succeeded by Francis Beckman, a graduate of Mount St. Mary Seminary in Maryland. At his installation as Bishop of Lincoln in 1924, Bishop Tihen, then of Denver, gave the welcome homily. Bishop Beckman was transferred to the Diocese of Dubuque, Iowa, in 1930, but during his time in Lincoln, he also served as apostolic administrator for the Archdiocese of Omaha.
6. The Czechs in the Lincoln Diocese were overjoyed to hear Louis Kucera would be the fifth bishop of Lincoln, for he was a Czech from Minnesota. It was Bishop Kucera’s task to shepherd the suffering people of the Lincoln Diocese through the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. He organized relief and fundraising for rural Nebraskans after the disastrous flood of the Republican River in 1935, which killed 113 people and 20,000 livestock animals. Bishop Kucera survived three heart attacks but died in 1957.
7. James Casey was appointed auxiliary bishop of Lincoln in the years of Bishop Kucera’s waning health, but he never exercised the office of auxiliary. He was ordained in April 1957 and was ready to come to Lincoln in May, but Kucera died before Casey arrived. As such, Casey became the logical successor to Kucera. Casey came from Iowa, and had served for two and a half years as a naval chaplain in World War II. After 10 years as Bishop of Lincoln, he was appointed to Denver, as had Bishop Tihen.
8. Bishop Casey’s successor was Glennon P. Flavin, who, like Bishops Bonacum and Tihen began as a parish priest in the Archdiocese of St. Louis. He even served as auxiliary bishop of St. Louis before coming to Lincoln in 1967. He was the first bishop installed in the Cathedral of the Risen Christ (built in 1965). Bishop Flavin founded the School Sisters of Christ the King in 1976. His 1991 pastoral letter condemning contraception as a grave sin and encouraging the use of Natural Family Planning received much positive attention from the Catholic world at large. He became the first bishop to retire while in Lincoln in 1992.
9. Bishop Emeritus Fabian Bruskewitz retired in 2012, but still lives in Lincoln and attends diocesan events, even celebrating Confirmations at the age of 90. He was ordained in Rome in 1960 and worked in the Congregation for Catholic Education, a department of the Holy See, for 11 years. He was ordained Bishop of Lincoln in 1992. During his episcopate, he called a Eucharistic Congress and Diocesan Synod, founded St. Gregory the Great Seminary in Seward and welcomed the opening of Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter in Denton.
