By Barb Arland-Fye
The Catholic Messenger
TOLEDO, Ohio — Msgr. William Kubacki, vicar general for the Diocese of Toledo, Ohio, first met Bishop-elect Dennis Walsh in the early 2000s when the latter was a Redemptorist priest moving back home to Ohio to serve in the diocese. Then-Father Walsh left his religious community to be closer to family but is grateful for his experience with the Redemptorists.
He served as an associate pastor and later was pastor of one of the parishes Msgr. Kubacki had previously served as pastor. “I have known him all through these years through the various diocesan boards and committees he sits on. We used to tease him and say his parish was I-75 (the interstate route from Delphos to Toledo),” Msgr. Kubacki said.
“He is the kind of guy that can be involved in a number of things and do well at a meeting and then go on to something else and he’s present again. He is very prayerful, very sincere, he’s analytical and he listens very well. He is truly a priest’s priest. He loves to be around priests,” Msgr. Kubacki said. “He loves being a priest. He really does. He’s been a very good pastor and has had a number of newly ordained priests as his associates. He’s a very good mentor for them.”
Bishop-elect Walsh can assess pastoral situations well and through his guidance and the example he sets, demonstrates what ministry is about, Msgr. Kubacki said. “He does it in a focused, Christ-centered manner.”
During the recent priests’ convocation in the Toledo Diocese, he managed to keep the news of his appointment as Bishop of the Diocese of Davenport under wraps (until the official announcement), even though he was excited about it, Msgr. Kubacki said. Bishop-elect Walsh also has great rapport with men and women religious, which Msgr. Kubacki says is a very positive aspect of his ministry. “I think that comes from the fact that he was a religious order priest.”
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