Father Andrew Cozzens, an assistant professor of sacramental theology
at the St. Paul Seminary, has been named by Pope Francis as an
auxiliary bishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis.
Bishop-elect Cozzens, 45, is a priest of the archdiocese, ordained in 1997.
Archbishop John Nienstedt announced the news during the 7:30 a.m.
Mass Oct. 11 at the Cathedral of St. Paul. He called Bishop-elect
Cozzens “a good man, intelligent, a man of deep faith.”
His episcopal ordination will be at the Cathedral of St. Paul on Dec.
9, which this year is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the
Blessed Virgin Mary.
The feast day holds special significance for the bishop-elect.
“I have a great devotion to Our Lady, so I’m very grateful for her
intercession and prayers, and the opportunity to be ordained on her
feast day is really a great thing,” he said.
Archbishop John Nienstedt expressed gratitude for the Holy Father’s
selection of Bishop-elect Cozzens.
“I am thankful for the Holy Father’s
gift of another bishop to serve the pastoral needs of this great
archdiocese, especially among our Latino community,” he said in a
statement. “I am fortunate to have Bishop-elect Cozzens and Bishop Piché
by my side to better serve the faithful of this local Church.”
Healing mission
Bishop-elect Cozzens said that, as a priest, he has enjoyed
preaching, teaching, celebrating the sacraments and doing spiritual
direction. As a bishop, he will continue with those ministries, “but on a
larger scale,” he said. And he wants to promote the Church’s healing
mission.
“I’m a firm believer that Jesus wants to heal,” he said. “I’ve been
very impressed with Pope Francis’ image that the Church is like a field
hospital. We’re living in a world in which there are many hurting
people. I just hope my ministry as a bishop will be part of the healing
that flows from the heart of Jesus for people.
“If I can in any way be part of healing, in all kinds of ways, that’s
how I want to serve,” he said. “Jesus came to heal the world, and I
want to help serve in that way.”
The call
Bishop-elect Cozzens said he received a call on the Feast of St.
Therese – Oct. 1 – from Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, apostolic nuncio
to the United States.
“As soon as I heard that the apostolic nuncio wanted to speak to me,
my heart was beating quite profoundly,” the bishop-elect said. “He just
said very simply. ‘Pope Francis has nominated you to be an auxiliary
bishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Do you accept?’ I knew the Lord was
calling, so I said, ‘I accept.’
“Of course, this was in the middle of all these meetings during the
day at the seminary, getting ready for our accreditation visit and all
this stuff,” Bishop-elect Cozzens said.
“I went into the next meeting,
and my phone rang. I stepped out to take it, and it was Archbishop
Nienstedt, who immediately said, ‘Your excellency.’ He said, ‘I imagine
you’re experiencing some emotion right now.’ I said, ‘Yes, there’s a lot
of trembling going on.’ He said he was delighted and grateful to the
Holy Father.”
A native of Denver, Bishop-elect Cozzens is the youngest of three
children. He graduated from Benedictine College in Atchison, Kan., where
he experienced a deepening of the faith through the Catholic
Charismatic Renewal.
During a period of discernment after college,
Cozzens served as a travelling missionary to young people around the
country with Twin Cities-based NET Ministries. He then joined the
Companions of Christ in St. Paul and worked for St. Paul’s Outreach
leading college Bible study groups.
After his year of discernment, he was accepted into the St. Paul
Seminary. Four years later, in 1997, he was ordained to the priesthood
for the archdiocese. He served as parochial vicar at the Cathedral of
St. Paul and then Faribault Catholic Community (now Divine Mercy parish)
before being sent to Rome for doctoral studies. Upon his return to
Minnesota, he began service as an instructor at the St. Paul Seminary.
He said his experience with NET Ministries and SPO made important contributions to his vocation.
“I’ve always tried to live my priesthood in an evangelistic way —
that is, being attentive to making the Gospel attractive so that people
can come to see and understand its power,” Bishop-elect Cozzens said.
“But also reaching out to those people who are not currently connected
to the Church and don’t know the love of Jesus. So I’ve always tried to
do that.
“I’ve always thought it important that a priest and a bishop have an evangelistic heart,” he said.
Fluent in Spanish
Bishop-elect Cozzens is fluent in Spanish, having studied the
language in Mexico before serving from 2000 to 2002 as parochial vicar
at the Faribault Catholic Community.
“I love working with Hispanic people. I love Hispanic ministry,” said
Bishop-elect Cozzens, who used his Spanish skills every day for Masses
and the sacraments.
“Since I’ve come back from Rome, I help out at Spanish Masses
whenever I can,” he said.
“Most recently my assignment has been in Red
Wing, going down [to St. Joseph parish] for Spanish Mass each Sunday I’m
available.”
Until his episcopal ordination, Bishop-elect Cozzens will continue to teach at the seminary.
‘Holy, humble priest’
Present at the Mass announcing his new appointment were Bishop Lee
Piché, also an auxiliary of St. Paul and Minneapolis; Msgr. Aloysius
Callaghan, rector of the St. Paul Seminary, and Father John Ubel, rector
of the Cathedral.
Family members of Bishop-elect Cozzens were also present, including his mother Judy and father Jack.
“I’m just praying for him,” Judy Cozzens said after the Mass. “He’s a
holy, humble priest, and I just pray that he will be a holy, humble
bishop.”