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December 19, 2022By Mary Lim
Bishop Edward Joseph Weisenburger was ordained to the priesthood at the Cathedral of our Lady of Perpetual Help in Oklahoma City by Archbishop Charles A. Salatka on December 19, 1987. Today, he celebrates 35 years in his vocation as a priest.
On October 2, 2009, he was appointed a Prelate of Honor to His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, with the title Reverend Monsignor. On February 6, 2012, Weisenburger was appointed Bishop of Salina, Kansas, by His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI. He was ordained a bishop at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Salina, on May 1, 2012, with the Most Reverend Joseph Naumann, Archbishop of Kansas City presiding. On October 3, 2017, Weisenburger was appointed Bishop of Tucson by His Holiness, Pope Francis. He was installed as Bishop of Tucson on November 29, 2017. (Diocese of Tucson)
Bishop Weisenburger has served in many cities, roles, and ministries throughout all of the above highlighted milestones in his vocation. He began his service as a priest in Ponca City, OK from 1987 to 1990, then attended canon law school at the University of St. Paul in Ottawa, Canada from 1990 to 1992, and used his pontifical J.C.L. degree in canon law to do Tribunal work in Oklahoma City until 1995. From 1995 to 2012, Weisenburger enjoyed serving the dioceses that he was assigned to as a parish priest before he was ordained a bishop of the Catholic Church.
Bishop Weisenburger’s pastoral journey has brought him to the Diocese of Tucson, where he has learned about the community here and served faithfully since 2017. His studies for his vocation formally began at Conception Seminary College in 1979, and then continued at American College in 1983 – but his calling to the vocation of the priesthood began many years before that.
Bishop Weisenburger shares that “[becoming a priest] simply felt like my calling from my earliest childhood. I never honestly considered any alternative.”
He was brought up in a moderately religious Catholic family. He says that it was in his family that the seeds for his vocation as a priest were first sowed.
Weisenburger was born the third of four children, and their involvement in the Church regularly went beyond just weekend Mass. By the time he was in the third grade, Bishop Weisenburger was a regular altar server, and he loved getting to know the priests whom he served with, saying they were always kind and encouraging, and theirs were lives that he greatly admired.
Additionally, Bishop Weisenburger was tremendously influenced by his maternal grandmother. “My maternal grandmother was a strong influence,” he says, “she was something of a mystic in daily life – a woman of incredible faith, warmth, love, and devotion to the Church.”
In his family, the seeds for Bishop Weisenburger’s vocation were planted. As he discerned the priesthood in his young adult life, it was life-giving visits and fortifying conversations with his pastor and other priests for whom he served Mass that continued to water and nurture those seeds to fruition.
Bishop Weisenburger continues to discern his vocation every day as he reflects on his priesthood thus far, and as he prayerfully ponders where it is that God is taking him with his mission now as a bishop.
He says that his favorite part about being a priest has been “being with people in their most joyful moments, and being with people in their most challenging moments.”
“The ministry of simple ‘presence’ is one where I typically feel God working through me,” says Bishop Weisenburger, “It is never my words, it is never my actions. In those moments, a priest can sort of recede and allow people to see beyond us to the loving God we represent.”
Although in his role now as Bishop, Weisenburger’s calendar is filled with the many responsibilities of shepherding a whole diocese, he still manages to partake in this simple ministry of “presence” with all whom he encounters. Even a moment greeting Bishop Weisenburger at the Pastoral Center, or an hour participating in a Mass that he is celebrating, you will experience that he is ever present with those who surround him in that moment, and he always strives to make known the presence and love of Christ through this simple ministry of presence.
As a priest, it brought Weisenburger great joy to celebrate weekend liturgies for the parishes which he served, and he loved getting to know the people of God through invitations into parishioner’s homes. Now, as his vocation has led him to serve the Church as a bishop, what brings him the most joy is celebrating the Sacraments, especially Ordinations and Confirmations.
Congratulations, Bishop Weisenburger, on celebrating 35 years in the priesthood! Thank you for serving and guiding the communities of the Diocese of Tucson for the past five years. We will be praying for you as you continue to minister to and lead us, and we look forward to seeing where God takes you in your vocation in the years to come!
READ ABOUT BISHOP WEISENBURGER’S ROLES AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS
VOCATIONS IN THE DIOCESE OF TUCSON
