John Charles Wester
Encyclopedia
John Charles Wester, is an American Roman Catholic Bishop
. On 8 January 2007 Pope Benedict XVI
appointed Wester as the ninth bishop to serve the Diocese of Salt Lake City.
on November 5, 1950, the fourth generation of his family born there. Wester attended Our Lady of Mercy Parish School in Daly City, CA.
Wester graduated from St. Joseph's College Seminary, Mountain View, California
, in 1972, and then attended St. Patrick Seminary
, Menlo Park
, where he earned a Master of Divinity
degree in 1976. Wester went on to earn a Master of Applied Science
(M.A.S.) from the University of San Francisco
in 1984, and then a Master of Arts
(MA) in spiritual theology at the Holy Names College in Oakland, California
in 1993.
in San Francisco. Three years later, in 1976, he was appointed Associate Pastor at Saint Raphael Parish
in San Rafael
. In 1979, he became a teacher and Director of Campus Ministry at Marin Catholic High School
. Wester later went on the become President of the high school, and eventually was named Assistant Superintendent for High Schools. In 1988, he was became Assistant to the Archbishop.
Wester's first appointment as Pastor
was at Saint Stephen Parish in San Francisco, in 1993.
for Clergy, where he was named a Monsignor
. The following year, Pope John Paul II
appointed him Titular Bishop
of Lamiggiga and Auxiliary Bishop
for the Archdiocese of San Francisco. After becoming Auxiliary Bishop, Wester held the title of Moderator of the Curia until 2003. While he was Episcopal Vicar for Clergy, Wester also served as Vicar General
of the Archdiocese.
He was installed as Bishop of Salt Lake City by Metropolitan Archbishop of San Francisco
George Hugh Niederauer
on 14 March 2007 at the Cathedral of the Madeline. Over 50 Catholic bishops attended the installation, including Archbishop Roger Mahony of Los Angeles, Archbishop Emeritus Theodore Edgar McCarrick of Washington D.C., Papal Nuncio to the United States Archbishop Pietro Sambi
, and Bishop William S. Skylstad
of Spokane, President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
. Also in attendance were Utah Governor Jon Huntsman, Jr.
, Salt Lake City Mayor Ross "Rocky" Anderson
, President Thomas S. Monson
of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and Bishop Carolyn Tanner Irish
of the Episcopal Diocese of Utah
.
-Catholic Dialogue, Consultant for the Subcommittee on Interreligious Dialogue, member of the Migration Committee, the Pastoral Practices Committee, World Mission Committee, the Subcommittee on Lay Ministry, and as the USCCB bishop-liaison to Asia
.
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
. On 8 January 2007 Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI
Benedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...
appointed Wester as the ninth bishop to serve the Diocese of Salt Lake City.
Early life and clerical formation
John Charles Wester was born in San Francisco, CaliforniaSan Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
on November 5, 1950, the fourth generation of his family born there. Wester attended Our Lady of Mercy Parish School in Daly City, CA.
Wester graduated from St. Joseph's College Seminary, Mountain View, California
Mountain View, California
-Downtown:Mountain View has a pedestrian-friendly downtown centered on Castro Street. The downtown area consists of the seven blocks of Castro Street from the Downtown Mountain View Station transit center in the north to the intersection with El Camino Real in the south...
, in 1972, and then attended St. Patrick Seminary
Saint Patrick Seminary, Menlo Park
Saint Patrick's Seminary and University in Menlo Park, California is a Roman Catholic post-graduate seminary whose primary mission is the formation of clergy for Western and Pacific Rim dioceses, orders, religious congregations and secular institutes...
, Menlo Park
Menlo Park, California
Menlo Park, California is a city at the eastern edge of San Mateo County, in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, in the United States. It is bordered by San Francisco Bay on the north and east; East Palo Alto, Palo Alto, and Stanford to the south; Atherton, North Fair Oaks, and Redwood City...
, where he earned a Master of Divinity
Master of Divinity
In the academic study of theology, the Master of Divinity is the first professional degree of the pastoral profession in North America...
degree in 1976. Wester went on to earn a Master of Applied Science
Master of Applied Science
Master of Applied Science is a professional Master's degree...
(M.A.S.) from the University of San Francisco
University of San Francisco
The University of San Francisco , is a private, Jesuit/Catholic university located in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1855, USF was established as the first university in San Francisco. It is the second oldest institution for higher learning in California and the tenth-oldest university of...
in 1984, and then a Master of Arts
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
(MA) in spiritual theology at the Holy Names College in Oakland, California
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
in 1993.
Priestly apostolate
Wester was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of San Francisco on May 15, 1976 at the Cathedral of Saint Mary of the AssumptionCathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption
The Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption, also known locally as Saint Mary's Cathedral, is the principal church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco in San Francisco, California...
in San Francisco. Three years later, in 1976, he was appointed Associate Pastor at Saint Raphael Parish
Mission San Rafael Arcángel
Mission San Rafael Arcángel was founded in 1817 as a medical asistencia of the Mission San Francisco de Asís as a hospital to treat sick Native Americans of the Bay Area, making it Alta California's first sanitarium. The weather was much better in the North Bay than in San Francisco, and helped...
in San Rafael
San Rafael, California
San Rafael is a city and the county seat of Marin County, California, United States. The city is located in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area...
. In 1979, he became a teacher and Director of Campus Ministry at Marin Catholic High School
Marin Catholic High School
Marin Catholic High School is a Roman Catholic college preparatory school located in unincorporated Kentfield in Marin County, California. The school is owned by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco.The student population is approximately 736...
. Wester later went on the become President of the high school, and eventually was named Assistant Superintendent for High Schools. In 1988, he was became Assistant to the Archbishop.
Wester's first appointment as Pastor
Pastor
The word pastor usually refers to an ordained leader of a Christian congregation. When used as an ecclesiastical styling or title, this role may be abbreviated to "Pr." or often "Ps"....
was at Saint Stephen Parish in San Francisco, in 1993.
Episcopacy
Wester returned to the Pastoral Center in 1997 to become the VicarVicar
In the broadest sense, a vicar is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior . In this sense, the title is comparable to lieutenant...
for Clergy, where he was named a Monsignor
Monsignor
Monsignor, pl. monsignori, is the form of address for those members of the clergy of the Catholic Church holding certain ecclesiastical honorific titles. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian monsignore, from the French mon seigneur, meaning "my lord"...
. The following year, Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
appointed him Titular Bishop
Titular bishop
A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese.By definition a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop the tradition of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches is that he be ordained for a specific place...
of Lamiggiga and Auxiliary Bishop
Auxiliary bishop
An auxiliary bishop, in the Roman Catholic Church, is an additional bishop assigned to a diocese because the diocesan bishop is unable to perform his functions, the diocese is so extensive that it requires more than one bishop to administer, or the diocese is attached to a royal or imperial office...
for the Archdiocese of San Francisco. After becoming Auxiliary Bishop, Wester held the title of Moderator of the Curia until 2003. While he was Episcopal Vicar for Clergy, Wester also served as Vicar General
Vicar general
A vicar general is the principal deputy of the bishop of a diocese for the exercise of administrative authority. As vicar of the bishop, the vicar general exercises the bishop's ordinary executive power over the entire diocese and, thus, is the highest official in a diocese or other particular...
of the Archdiocese.
He was installed as Bishop of Salt Lake City by Metropolitan Archbishop of San Francisco
Roman Catholic Archbishop of San Francisco
The Roman Catholic Archbishop of San Francisco is the Archbishop of Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco, the Roman Catholic Church in San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin counties in California, the United States...
George Hugh Niederauer
George Hugh Niederauer
George Hugh Niederauer is an American bishop of the Roman Catholic Church. He currently serves as the Archbishop of San Francisco...
on 14 March 2007 at the Cathedral of the Madeline. Over 50 Catholic bishops attended the installation, including Archbishop Roger Mahony of Los Angeles, Archbishop Emeritus Theodore Edgar McCarrick of Washington D.C., Papal Nuncio to the United States Archbishop Pietro Sambi
Pietro Sambi
Pietro Sambi was an Italian Roman Catholic prelate who served in the Vatican's Secretariat of State. At the time of his death, he was the Titular Archbishop of Bellicastrum and the Apostolic Nuncio to the United States....
, and Bishop William S. Skylstad
William S. Skylstad
William Stephen Skylstad is an American Roman Catholic Bishop. He is Bishop Emeritus of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Spokane in Washington retiring June 30, 2010...
of Spokane, President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is the episcopal conference of the Catholic Church in the United States. Founded in 1966 as the joint National Conference of Catholic Bishops and United States Catholic Conference, it is composed of all active and retired members of the Catholic...
. Also in attendance were Utah Governor Jon Huntsman, Jr.
Jon Huntsman, Jr.
Jon Meade Huntsman, Jr. is an American politician and diplomat who served as the 16th Governor of Utah. He also served in the administrations of four United States presidents and is a candidate for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.Huntsman worked as a White House staff assistant for...
, Salt Lake City Mayor Ross "Rocky" Anderson
Rocky Anderson
Ross C. "Rocky" Anderson served two terms as the 33rd mayor of Salt Lake City, Utah, between 2000 and 2008. He is the Executive Director of High Road for Human Rights...
, President Thomas S. Monson
Thomas S. Monson
Thomas Spencer Monson is an American religious leader and author, and the 16th and current President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . As president, Monson is considered by adherents of the religion to be a "prophet, seer, and revelator" of God's will on earth...
of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and Bishop Carolyn Tanner Irish
Carolyn Tanner Irish
Carolyn Tanner Irish is the 10th Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Utah. At the time of her election and consecration in 1996 she became the fourth woman in the Episcopal Church to hold the office of bishop.-Education:Irish received a B.A...
of the Episcopal Diocese of Utah
Episcopal Diocese of Utah
The Episcopal Diocese of Utah is a diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States, encompassing the state of Utah, less that part of the Four Corners region which is in the Navajoland Area Mission. It includes a small part of northern Arizona. In 1867, the Episcopal Church was the first...
.
Memberships and Special Responsibilities
Since his consecration, Wester has been involved with the USCCB as a member of the Bishops Committee on Vocations, Chairman of Northern California Ch'an/ZenZen
Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism founded by the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma. The word Zen is from the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word Chán , which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna, which can be approximately translated as "meditation" or "meditative state."Zen...
-Catholic Dialogue, Consultant for the Subcommittee on Interreligious Dialogue, member of the Migration Committee, the Pastoral Practices Committee, World Mission Committee, the Subcommittee on Lay Ministry, and as the USCCB bishop-liaison to Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
.