Archbishop-designate Robert Casey named new archbishop of Cincinnati

Archbishop-designate Robert Casey said he is feeling humble and grateful following his appointment as archbishop of Cincinnati, which Pope Francis announced the morning of Feb. 12.

“I am so grateful for all that I have received in this archdiocese, from my childhood to my present day. But I’m also humbled because I look at this kid from Alsip, Illinois, who is now the archbishop of Cincinnati and say, ‘Wow, thank you, God,’” Archbishop-designate Casey said.

He is replacing Archbishop Dennis Schnurr, who is retiring.

“Pope Francis has again chosen one of our auxiliary bishops, Bishop Robert Casey, to head an American archdiocese,” Cardinal Cupich said in a statement. “Bishop Casey has served his home diocese and its people as a pastor, educational leader and Vicar General. He has helped guide our archdiocese through a period of reorganization and renewal and prepared it for a blessed future. We know he will carry this experience and his pastoral heart to his new post as archbishop of Cincinnati and we wish him well as he continues his service to the people of God.”

Archbishop-designate Casey is the fourth of five children of the late Michael Casey, a meat cutter from County Wicklow, Ireland, and the late Margaret Carmody Casey, a registered nurse from southwest Michigan.

A native of Evergreen Park, he grew up in Alsip, where he attended public elementary schools.

He graduated from Marist High School before entering Niles College Seminary, where he received a bachelor’s degree in English. Bishop Casey graduated from the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary and was ordained to the priesthood May 21, 1994.

His first assignment was as associate pastor of St. Ita Parish, where he served until 1999. Bishop Casey, who is fluent in Spanish, was named associate director of Casa Jesús, a house of discernment for men from Latin America in 1998. In 1999, he became its full-time director.

In 2003, he completed a 40-day pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in Spain before becoming pastor of Our Lady of Tepeyac Parish and in 2008, he co-founded Taller de José, a ministry sponsored by the Congregation of St. Joseph that offers accompaniment to people in need.

He served as pastor of St. Barbara Parish in Brookfield from 2009 to 2016, when he was appointed pastor of St. Bede the Venerable. He also served on the Priest Placement Board and the priest steering committee for Renew My Church. Bishop Casey was appointed auxiliary bishop by Pope Francis on July 3, 2018, and ordained on Sept. 17, 2018.

He served as vicar of Vicariate III until 2020, when he was named vicar general, replacing Bishop Ronald Hicks, who was named the sixth bishop of Joliet by Pope Francis.

In his spare time, Archbishop-designate Casey enjoys long-distance running. Between 2012 and 2018, he ran five marathons and will run another in October.

Archbishop-designate Casey was at home in the rectory of Holy Name Cathedral when he received the call from Papal Nuncio Cardinal Christophe Pierre the morning of Feb. 2, he said.

The first thing that went through his mind was a conversation with a bishop-friend in which his friend said that once you say yes to life as a bishop, the only response to being asked to serve in another diocese or position is “yes.”

Looking back, Archbishop-designate Casey is grateful for his experiences serving in the Archdiocese of Chicago, he said.

“The same way that I look at my seminary formation at Mundelein Seminary — I feel that Mundelein prepared me well for priesthood — I feel that my priesthood and my time as auxiliary bishop have prepared me now for Cincinnati,” he said.

As he looks back over the years, he sees how God was preparing him to move forward in his journey as archbishop of Cincinnati.

“Both the blessings and the challenges, it all has served to ready me for the next steps forward,” Archbishop-designate Casey said. “All of it has been very good training to be able to say ‘yes’ to this next call.”

Does he have any advice for the person who will succeed him as vicar general?

“As I receive this invitation to go to Cincinnati, I look at my experience here in Chicago and all I feel is gratitude, especially when I look at my work as vicar general,” he said. “I’ve been so blessed in the past four and a half years to work with some amazing people. And so I’m excited for whoever comes in as vicar general. They’re going to be blessed in turn, working with just an amazing team that not only brings talent to what they do but has heart for the church.”

It is not lost on him that he is becoming the leader of an archdiocese during a time of division in the church and the country. For healing, he looks to what it means to be in communion with each other and live in synodality.

“It means that we have to live in relationship. We have to find points of connection. We have to dialogue and listen,” he said.

Cardinal Cupich has modeled this for him, Archbishop-designate Casey said.

“It’s really putting into practice the communion that is at the center of our faith,” he said. “We hold communion at the center of our faith — this idea that we are to be one with God and one with neighbor. I think that the centrality of Eucharist is so important in how we live as church in today’s world, helping people to find relationship and to see value in relationship. It’s what motivates me in my ministry, this notion of I’ve been blessed through the gift of communion. I’ve been blessed with this oneness that I’ve experienced with God and with God’s church and so I want to share that. I want to help others to not just live in the frustration of divisiveness and polarization, but to live in the joy of communion and relationship.”