(From combined sources)
ST. PAUL — The massive Cathedral of St. Paul was packed for the episcopal Ordination of now-Auxiliary Bishop Michael John Izen, the pastor of the Churches of St. Michael and St. Mary in Stillwater, Minn., the parochial administrator of the Church of St. Charles in Bayport, and the canonical administrator of St. Croix Catholic school. The crowd capacity of the Cathedral of St. Paul is 3,000, and some of attendees stood in the aisles for the episcopal Ordination of a priest who has served the St. Paul-Minneapolis Archdiocese for about 18 years.
The Ordination took place on Tuesday, April 11, a welcomed warm day in the Twin Cities after a cold and snowy winter.
According to the archdiocesan Catholic Spirit, Archbishop Hebda said in his homily that Co-consecrator Bishop Andrew Cozzens of Crookston was ordained and assigned as an auxiliary bishop to St. Paul and Minneapolis when it was minus 2; Co-consecrator and Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Williams was ordained when it was minus 4; and the archbishop himself received the pallium as having metropolitan jurisdiction when it was minus 11.
“That’s 86 degrees colder than it is today,” the archbishop said to laughter. “You get the picture. Bishop-elect Izen is clearly loved by the Lord.”
As a pastor, Bishop Izen was particularly noted for encouraging vocations. Many of his altar servers are now studying to be priests or have already been ordained.
He realized his own vocation at a somewhat later age. Bishop Izen was born January 12, 1967 to John and JoAnna Izen, according to the website of the St. Paul-Minneapolis Archdiocese. He is the youngest of six children. He grew up in Fairmont (in the Diocese of Winona-Rochester, Minn.) and attended St. John Vianney grade school, followed by Fairmont High School, graduating in 1985.
Bishop Izen earned an undergraduate degree in mathematics and computer science from St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minn., and upon graduation, went to work for 3M as a systems analyst. During his nine years at 3M, it became clearer that God was calling him to discern a possible vocation to the priesthood, so he enrolled at the St. Paul Seminary in St. Paul, Minn., earning a master’s of divinity.
Izen was ordained to the priesthood May 28, 2005, by Archbishop Harry J. Flynn, as part of a relatively large Ordination class of 15.
Following Ordination, then-Father Izen ministered at Divine Mercy in Faribault until 2007, when he became pastor at St. Timothy in Maple Lake, where he served until 2012. In February 2012, he became pastor at St. Raphael in Crystal, remaining there until 2015.
Pope Francis named him an auxiliary bishop on January 5, 2023.
According to Joe Ruff’s article for the Catholic Spirit: About 16 bishops concelebrated the Mass, mostly from Minnesota and surrounding states. They included Archbishop Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States, and former priests of the St. Paul Archdiocese Bishop Peter Christensen of Boise, Idaho; Bishop Donald DeGrood of Sioux Falls, S.D.; Bishop Emeritus John LeVoir of New Ulm, Minn.; and Bishop Emeritus Richard Pates of Des Moines, Iowa, who was recently appointed as apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Dubuque, Iowa.
Also concelebrating were Maronite Chorbishop Sharbel Maroun, pastor of St. Maron in Minneapolis; Bishop Robert Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minn., Auxiliary Bishop Juan Miguel Betancourt of Hartford, Conn.; Bishop Daniel Felton of Duluth; Bishop John Folda of Fargo; Bishop Patrick Neary and Bishop Emeritus Donald Kettler, both of St. Cloud; Bishop James Powers of Superior, Wis.; and Bishop Chad Zielinski of New Ulm.
Archbishop Pierre read the mandate from Pope Francis for Bishop Izen’s Ordination and appointment to St. Paul and Minneapolis and the titular see of Newport in South Wales. Newport was Archbishop Fulton Sheen’s titular diocese.
He also noted the bishop’s studies in mathematics and computer science, saying “but you never calculated that you would be elected bishop.”
Pierre further commented: “You said you were a little terrified of being a bishop. It is OK, to be a little bit terrified. But just a little bit, by the way.”
Bishop Izen’s opening remark was “He is risen,” noting: “My Lebanese grandmother used to say that every Easter.”
He announced that there would be a receiving line for a blessing outside, concluding, “God bless you all,” and “Thank you.”
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