By Andrew Winter
1.
There are currently five U.S. bishops who were born in the Diocese of Lincoln and/or have served as priests for the diocese*. They are: Bishop John Folda, Bishop Emeritus Michael Jackels, Bishop Emeritus Thomas Olmsted, Bishop Emeritus Kenneth Steiner, and Bishop Robert Vasa.
2.
Bishop Folda was born in Omaha, but after attending the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL), he was ordained as a priest of the Lincoln Diocese in 1989. He studied at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Rome and became rector of St. Gregory the Great Seminary in Seward in 1999. In 2013, he was consecrated as bishop of the Diocese of Fargo, N.D., where he is still serving today.
3.
Bishop Jackels was born in South Dakota. He came to study at UNL and stayed to serve as a priest for the Lincoln Diocese for 24 years. From 1997 to 2005, he worked for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome under Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who was later named Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. In 2005, Bishop Jackels was appointed bishop of Wichita, and in 2013 archbishop of Dubuque. He retired in 2023.
4.
Bishop Olmsted was born in northern Kansas, but served as a priest for the Lincoln Diocese from 1973-1999. He spent 16 of those years studying in Rome. In 1999, he was named coadjutor bishop of Wichita. In 2003, he became the fourth bishop of Phoenix. He retired from that post in 2022.
5.
Bishop Steiner was born in David City, but never served as a priest in the Lincoln Diocese. He served as auxiliary bishop of Portland, Ore. from 1978-2011. He then retired.
6.
Bishop Vasa was both born in and served as a priest for the Diocese of Lincoln. He attended St. John Nepomucene Elementary in Weston and graduated from Bishop Neumann High School in Wahoo, and was ordained to the priesthood in 1976. In 1996, Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz named him vicar general of the diocese, but three years later, Pope John Paul II named him bishop of Baker, Ore. In 2011, Vasa became the sixth bishop of Santa Rosa, Calif., a post he holds to this day.
7.
Of these five bishops, three were ordained by Bishop Glennon P. Flavin, the seventh bishop of the Diocese of Lincoln.
8.
Bishops Olmsted and Folda pay homage to the Diocese of Lincoln on their respective coats of arms. They designed their own coats of arms to be similar to that of the Diocese of Lincoln.
9.
Although he is not a native of Nebraska and has never served in the Diocese of Lincoln, Bishop Brian Nunes of Los Angeles is the titular bishop of Kearney. The Diocese of Kearney only existed for five years (1912-1917) before it was replaced by the Diocese of Grand Island. Albert Duffy was its only true bishop, but since 1997 there have been five titular bishops – bishops who hold other offices but hold the honorary title of Bishop of Kearney. Bishop Nunes, who serves as auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, has been the titular bishop of Kearney since 2023.
*Correction: The original version of this article neglected to mention Bishop Jerome Hanus.
Born in Brainard as George Hanus, Bishop Hanus entered the Benedictine abbey at Conception, Mo. in 1961 and took the religious name Jerome. In 1977 he became the sixth abbot of Conception, and in 1987 was consecrated bishop of Saint Cloud, Minn. He served as archbishop of Dubuque, Iowa from 1995 until 2013, when he retired. He was succeeded by Archbishop Michael Jackels. He now lives at Conception Abbey in Missouri.
