Catholic Post   - October 15, 2000 issue

Top stories, week of Oct. 15

104 to receive papal, diocesan honors next month . . .

In what may be the largest diocese-wide awards ceremony to date, 104
clergy, Religious and lay persons of the Diocese of Peoria will
receive papal or diocesan honors Nov. 26 in Peoria. The honorees
include:

    * Ten priests who have been named monsignors and one monsignor who has been elevated to the rank of Protonotary Apostolic (see related story below);
    * 16 recipients of papal knighthood in the Order of St. Gregory;
    * 25 recipients of papal honors and medals known as Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice or Benemerenti; and
    * 52 recipients of the annual Pere Marquette Award for significant service to the church and to the Diocese of Peoria. 

Bishop John J. Myers will present the awards during a 2 p.m. ceremony
Sunday, Nov. 26, at Robertson Memorial Fieldhouse on the campus of
Bradley University in Peoria.

"I feel a little bit like Moses and wish that all could have honors"
acknowledging their service to the church, Bishop Myers told The
Catholic Post this week. "But I'm very happy for all the people
nominated by their pastors and peers, and I offer sincere
congratulations and profound thanks for their lives of service to the
Diocese of Peoria."

The jubilee year ceremony will be larger than one held in 1993, when
84 persons -- 16 monsignors, three Knights of St. Gregory and 65
recipients of Pro Ecclesia and Benemerenti medals -- received papal
honors at the Peoria Civic Center. It also represents the largest
diocesan awards ceremony since the institution of the Pere Marquette
Awards and other diocesan honors in 1997.

The award recipients are being honored for a wide range of service to
parishes, schools, the diocese and other Catholic institutions. All
were nominated by their pastors, fellow parishioners, or professional
colleagues. Nominees for papal honors were submitted to the Vatican by
Bishop Myers for final approval, while diocesan honors were directly
approved by the bishop.

The awards ceremony will include a procession, a Liturgy of the Word,
remarks by Bishop Myers, presentation of awards by the bishop, a hymn
and closing prayers, according to Father Mark J. Merdian,
administrative assistant to the bishop.

More detailed biographies and photos of the Knights and Dames, Pro
Ecclesia and Benemerenti awardees, and Pere Marquette Award winners
will appear in upcoming issues of The Catholic Post.

. . . including 10 priests named monsignor

Pope John Paul II has named 10 priests of the Diocese of Peoria
prelates or chaplains of honor with the title of Reverend Monsignor,
and has elevated Msgr. Edward J. Duncan of Champaign to the rank of
Protonotary Apostolic.

The change of title for the new monsignors, conferred at the request
of Bishop John J. Myers, is effective immediately. All 11 priests will
be honored during an ecclesial awards ceremony Sunday, Nov. 26, in
Peoria.

The new monsignors and their current assignments are:

    * Msgr. Jerome Nguyen Ham, pastor of St. Anthony and St. Casimir parishes in Streator;
    * Msgr. Edward E. Higgins, pastor of Holy Family Parish, Lincoln, and its missions in Atlanta and Mason City;
    * Msgr. Thomas Maloney, pastor of Epiphany Parish, Normal;
    * Msgr. Thomas Miller, pastor of St. Vincent de Paul Parish, Peoria;
    * Msgr. John Prendergast, a chaplain with the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne Division;
    * Msgr. Paul Showalter, pastor of St. Pius X Parish, Rock Island;
    * Msgr. Richard Soseman, pastor of St. Mary of the Woods Parish, Princeville, and judicial vicar of the diocesan Tribunal;
    * Msgr. James Swaner, pastor of St. Patrick's Parish, Washington, and vicar of the Pekin Vicariate;
    * Msgr. Stuart Swetland, director of the Newman Foundation at the University of Illinois in Champaign, diocesan director of campus ministry, and episcopal vicar for social justice;
    * Msgr. John Mark Williams, former director of the diocesan Office of Evangelization, now a professor of homiletics and assistant vice rector at North American College in Rome. 

The title "monsignor," derived from the French for "my lord," is used
to address a priest to whom the pope has granted any of three honorary
titles that were once reserved for clerics who worked in the papal
household or for the Roman Curia. Modern popes bestow these offices as
papal honors to other clergy at the request of their bishops.

The highest of these titles is Protonotary Apostolic, which designates
a cleric with authority to notarize papal documents. Msgr. Duncan is
one of only two priests now living in the diocese to hold this
title. The other is Msgr. James Campbell, retired vicar general,
chancellor and moderator of the curia, who received the title just
before his retirement in 1999.

Second in rank is Prelate of Honor to His Holiness, the most common
monsignorial title, once used to designate clerics who served as
intermediaries between the pope and his cardinals. Msgr. Ham,
Msgr. Higgins, Msgr. Maloney, Msgr. Miller, Msgr. Prendergast,
Msgr. Showalter, Msgr. Swaner and Msgr. Swetland have been named
Prelates of Honor.

Msgr. Soseman and Msgr. Williams have been named Chaplains of Honor to
His Holiness, a title once given to priests who served as the pope's
personal attendants. Today the Chaplain of Honor title is usually
given to priests who are under age 40 at the time of their nomination.