Pope Francis appointed my college classmate a bishop! He's only 40 years old.
As a bishop, His Excellency Steven J. Lopes is a successor to the Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ. The salvation of many souls hinges on the fidelity of who is appointed bishop/episkopoi/overseer.
A bishop is a Successor to the Twelve Apostles. From the original 12 Apostles, there are now over 5,000 Catholic bishops around the world that can be traced back to the Twelve Apostles in an unbroken succession which no other church can claim.
I myself watch episcopal appointments the way many sports fans know coach and player appointments. If bishops had trading cards, I would have more than my fair share of them.
I was a year ahead of Steve at the St. Ignatius Institute at the University of San Francisco. Here are 6 college memories & my 6 personal future predictions for the young bishop:
6 COLLEGE MEMORIES OF STEVE LOPES
1.) He was around 19 years old and I would have been 20 years old when I said to him in Gleeson Hall, "I will be one of your deacons when you become bishop one day."
The part about my being a permanent deacon and his becoming a bishop came true, but the part about my being one of his deacons is not possible with our current assignments.
During the context of this conversation, I also remember that he said it would be valuable for the Church if I, as a married deacon, had a doctorate. And, yes, I do hold a doctorate now. He was one of a handful who encouraged me and saw the value of earning one.
2.) The new bishop already had a profound love for the liturgy of the Church and Catholic teaching at a young age. I spoke more about moral theology, and he talked more about liturgical theology. He loved the liturgy with a deep passion. I remember him at the 10pm daily Mass that Fr. Cornelius Buckley, S.J., celebrated in the chapel.
3.) One day, I was taking a nap in my dorm room. My roommate must have had the door unlocked because I remember him coming into the room. I was half asleep.
As I opened my sleepy eyes, I saw him make the Sign of the Cross over me.
I woke up after he walked in, and he noticed I had a copy of the Vatican II Documents near me as I napped. I must have dozed off reading one of the V2 documents before he walked in. He then said to me, "Oh my goodness, you even fall asleep with the documents!" or words to this effect as if I was learning the Vatican II teachings by osmosis.
4.) One of my last memories was seeing Steve Lopes with Tom Clark (now Br. Bede) and others at Gleeson Hall. Seeing Bishop Lopes with Brother Bede together reminds me of the main characters in Father Elijah. SPOILER ALERT (read no further if you plan to read Father Elijah): At the end of the book, the main character Elijah and a brother enter the City of Jerusalem to confront the Anti-Christ villain. They are the 2 disciples who are prophesized will engage the Man of Sin at the end of time. They were good friends-- these two men of God, and now both of them, one a bishop and the other a monk, are doing great things for the Church. I last spoke to Br. Bede when he made his final vows. This isn't just a great novel but reality.
5.) One day, we were somehow talking about Vatican protocol. Somewhere in the conversation, we remarked that when one kisses a bishop's ring, one is kissing the bishop's diocese to which he -- as in persona Christi -- is wedded, the local Church, which is the Bride of Christ. Whenever I kiss a bishop's ring, it is because I love his spouse, the Bride of Christ, in that local diocese.
Anyway, at some point in college at USF, I pretended to kiss an invisible episcopal ring on him. He responded by making a double-slapping motion on my face! I played along and pretended to be double-slapped on the face for kissing a pretend episcopal ring on Steven J. Lopes.
In real life, if or when I see him in person, I will kiss his real episcopal ring to show my love for his local Church, his local Diocese, or in church-speak an Ordinariate, which is the Bride of Christ.
And when I do kiss his real episcopal ring, I'm sure he won't pretend double-slap me again...
...at least I hope.
6.) I remember theological conversations during lunch and the dorm rooms. I don't remember many details, but I do remember a seminar with Fr. Louis Boyer on the Berakah. I remember him sitting on the heater below the window talking about an insight he had or something coming up in class. I remember his actions more than his words.
One of my favorite and fun memories of him was how he, another theology student named Reyes, and I attended a weekly seminar for about a month that was put together by the St. Ignatius Institute with renowned speaker Fr. Louis Boyer. It was a small group, and Fr. Boyer was in his declining years. In fact, he may have passed away soon thereafter his class with us. Father Boyer (pronounced "boy-yeah" from the French) would always talk about the "Berakah" in his native tongue for an hour. I believe he had some significant influence in liturgical matters during his younger years as a theologian and the way Mass is celebrated now. He would always pronounce it "Zeh Beh-ra-kah" for "the Berakah".
Anyway, the first day, Fr. Boyer would talk about the "Berakah". This was a Jewish foundation for the Mass, and it means "blessing." For an hour that first day, we sat and heard about "Zeh Beh-ra-kah" for an hour. That wasn't bad.... until we attended the following week, where we also heard about the "Zeh Beh-ra-kah" for another hour... ahem... with "Zeh Beh-ra-kah" being repeated over and over. Then the third week, we heard about "Zeh Beh-ra-kah". I don't think I made the following class, but Steve did. And he told me it was about....
..."Zeh Beh-ra-kah"!
I laugh really hard as I write this because I remember, during the seminar, probably into the 3rd or 4th or 5th week, Steve's face looked very patient when Fr. Boyer talked about the Berakah for the 100th time. And with his straight face, when Fr. Boyer talked about "Zeh Beh-ra-kah," Steve would occasionally do a slow turn of his heard to me with a straight face. Inside, we were smiling, but we were being very respectful of a priest who had seminally contributed to the Church's understanding of the Mass for our times. Fr. Boyer was a theological luminary, and our love for him surpassed any lecture he could give us.
I have taught the Catholic faith for 25 years in the classroom since that time. You can bet your bottom dollar that I taught "Zeh Beh-ra-kah" in class. I would tell the story about the very elderly Fr. Louis Boyer to my students.
I don't think I did this story true justice, but the point is that this was a memorable moment for me with whom Fr. Robert Maloney, S.J., called "budding theologian" Steven J. Lopes. It's reflective of his young personal side. His sense of humor was great!! It attracted people to the Church. I myself was more on the reserved, serious side in college, but he was a great conversationalist and humorist.
6 NOT-SO-MODEST PREDICTIONS FOR THE YOUNG BISHOP
1.) Bishops canonically retire at age 75. Steve is 40. This means he has 35 years of episcopal ministry ahead of him which puts his retirement in the year 2050 A.D. (assuming the Second Coming has not taken place by then).
2.) Bishop Lopes will provide significant ecumenical leadership for his first years as a young bishop. The Anglican-Catholic model de facto resolves the Anglican Communion issue, as it is the Catholic Church's best foot forward to bring Anglicans home to the Catholic Church from whence they came. And, to some degree, this is the Catholic Church's best foot forward at the moment to heal Western Christianity from the Protestant Revolution.
He will consult his brother bishops on ecumenism but will gain more valuable experience over time and be among the leading Catholic bishops that will bring to fulfillment the words of Our Lord Ut Unum Sint "That They May Be One" from John 17. He may be part of Orthodox-Catholic relations or at least aware of developments.
3.) In time, he will be one of the leading Latin-rite bishops with a majority married priests among his clergy. He will be regularly consulted about opening a Latin rite married priesthood, and his input will carry some weight even though he is young. He will gel well with his married priests, and among the Latin rite bishops he will have had the most experience with a large group of married Latin rite priests. I could be wrong, but I think he will be open to the possibility of ordaining married men to the priesthood in the Latin rite, but he will not deviate from the Tradition if he sees a threat to the Deposit of Faith. If he says no, it will be because of his experience with his clergy for both theological and practical reasons. If he says yes, it will be for the same reasons: theological and practical. Bishop Lopes, remember, is no stranger to novelty given the Ordinariate is a new and welcome model for the Church as approved by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. Finally, the new bishop has publicly stated, "There is no (universal) tradition of a married episcopate," so he will definitely be closed to a married episcopate in the Latin rite.
4.) If the Second Coming does not occur during his episcopacy, after his service for a good number of years as Bishop of the Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter, I predict that Bishop Lopes will one day return to his home diocese in San Francisco to serve as Archbishop Steven Lopes. It will be a homecoming for him, similar to Archbishop Allen Vigneron who returned to Detroit from Oakland and other bishops whose names escape me at the moment. Yup, you heard it first here, folks.
If the comment I once made 20 years ago at the University of San Francisco when I said, "I will be one of your deacons" were to come true, it would be because I somehow would end up incardinating or working in the Archdiocese of San Francisco while he is the Ordinary for some reason, and that would make him my bishop-boss. At the moment or quite frankly in the foreseeable future, I see really no reason for that to happen.
5.) After serving as an archbishop, he will be called to the Vatican to head a congregation or considered for the red hat in a U.S. archdiocese around his late 50s or early 60s. At the moment, American cardinals do not seem papible b/c it gives the impression of a First World superpower also becoming head of the Catholic Church which is not advisable with current global events. But the climate may change in the future if the U.S is known for leading world peace during the triumph of the Immaculate Heart.
6.) If a Third Vatican Council takes place in the future, an Archbishop Lopes or Cardinal Lopes would be instrumental in drafting any document on ecumenism. sacred liturgy, life of bishops and clergy, oriental churches, etc. He will serve in at least one papal conclave.
Of course, the end is that he must be a saint and make others into great saints, too. As my wife once said to me, "Be a holy deacon, or none at all." The same applies to His Excellency: Be a holy bishop, or none at all. Or in the words of St. Paul to the young bishop Timothy, "Guard the Deposit of Faith, in season and out of season."
May Our Lady watch over her son, Bishop Steven J. Lopes, with motherly affection and keep him always close to the Heart of Jesus who prayed ut unum sint-- that all may be one.
Amen.
