New bishop of Knoxville, Tenn., calls his ordination, installation 'a day of great beginnings'

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (OSV News) -- In a historic day for the Diocese of Knoxville, Bishop Mark Beckman was ordained July 26 as the church in East Tennessee's fourth shepherd.

Archbishop Shelton J. Fabre of Louisville, Kentucky, the province that includes the Knoxville Diocese, was the principal consecrator in the ordination at the Knoxville Convention Center.

Co-consecrators were Bishop J. Mark Spalding of the Diocese of Nashville and Bishop James V. Johnston Jr. of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Missouri. Bishop Johnston is a native of the Diocese of Knoxville. All three bishops were serving as a consecrator for the first time in their episcopacies.

Archbishop Fabre has served as apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Knoxville from the time the see became vacant in June 2023, when Bishop Richard F. Stika retired.

Bishop Beckman, 61, a native of Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, in the Diocese of Nashville and a priest in the Middle Tennessee diocese since his ordination in 1990, was elevated to bishop in a ceremony before a gathering of 4,000 in the convention center.

"In his wisdom, God has chosen you, James Mark Beckman, to be bishop in this new season for the Diocese of Knoxville, and relying on the grace of God and the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, you have said 'yes' to this call," Archbishop Fabre said in his homily.

Archbishop Fabre, Bishop Beckman, and Bishop Spalding studied together at the American College at the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium as young seminarians in the 1980s.

"Bishop Beckman, as you undertake your role as the chief shepherd of this diocese, I rejoice with you and with the Diocese of Knoxville," Archbishop Fabre said. "On a more personal note, who would have thought that from the days of our studying and traveling together during our seminary time at the American College in Belgium, that the Lord would bring us together as brother bishops? I am confident that with the help of God, you will be a good bishop here."

In his first words to his new flock at the end of Mass, Bishop Beckman recalled a life-changing phone call.

"At the end of April, when I first was pondering the call of the nuncio to me asking me to become the bishop of the Diocese of Knoxville, there were so many things that went through my heart and mind," he said. "One of the things that I remember was the opportunity I had a few years ago to attend the installation of Archbishop Fabre in Louisville, Kentucky.

"I hope I do not misquote you, Archbishop, but what I remember him saying the day he was installed as the archbishop of Louisville was a comment that I've thought about many times since. He said, 'This day is about a person, and that person is not me. That person is Jesus Christ.'"

After the assembly applauded, the new bishop continued.

"And this day, too, is about Jesus Christ," he said.

Twenty archbishops, bishops and abbots attended the ordination of Bishop Beckman, including retired Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, who led the Diocese of Knoxville as its second bishop from 1999 to 2007, and retired Benedictine Abbot Cletus D. Meagher of St. Bernard Abbey in Cullman, Alabama, who is a native of Cleveland, Tennessee, in the Knoxville Diocese. Making the longest trip was Archbishop Augustine Obiora Akubeze of Benin City, Nigeria.

More than 100 priests and 65 deacons, most from the Diocese of Knoxville but a good number from the new bishop's native Nashville Diocese and elsewhere, also were present.

Msgr. John Paul Zenollito Pedrera represented Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States, who was unable to attend Bishop Beckman's ordination. Msgr. Pedrera, first secretary of the apostolic nunciature in Washington, read the mandate from Pope Francis naming Bishop Beckman to his new role, as part of the ordination ceremony.

After the mandate was read, the soon-to-be-Bishop Beckman held the document aloft and processed around the convention center's exhibition hall so that all present could see it. The hall was converted into a sanctuary and nave for the ordination and installation.

The rite of episcopal ordination began at that point. The bishop-designate stood before Archbishop Fabre and made promises that included resolving to "proclaim the Gospel of Christ faithfully and unfailingly," "build up the body of Christ, his church," and "reach out in kindness and mercy to the poor, to strangers and to all those in need."

The bishop-designate then lay prostrate before the altar as the choir sang the litany of saints.

Following the litany, Archbishop Fabre, Bishop Spalding, Bishop Johnston and the other bishops laid their hands on the head of the bishop-designate. Archbishop Fabre followed with the prayer of ordination, asking God "to pour forth upon this chosen one the power that is from you, the governing Spirit, whom you gave to your beloved Son, Jesus Christ, and whom he gave to the holy Apostles, who established the church in each place as your sanctuary to the glory and unfailing praise of your name."

The archbishop also prayed that the new bishop will serve the Lord "night and day, that he may unceasingly cause your face to shine upon us and offer the gifts of your holy church."

The archbishop anointed the head of Bishop Beckman with holy chrism and presented the Book of Gospels to him.

The new bishop then received the symbols of his office: a ring, a miter and a crosier. Bishop Beckman's crosier is the same one used by Bishop James D. Niedergeses, ninth bishop of Nashville, who served from 1975 to 1992. The late Bishop Niedergeses also was a native of Lawrenceburg and ordained Father Beckman as a priest of the Diocese of Nashville on July 13, 1990.

After receiving the crosier, Bishop Beckman was formally installed, taking his seat -- to the assembly's applause -- among the concelebrating bishops in the cathedra, or bishop's chair, which came from the original Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus in Knoxville. His fellow bishops gave Bishop Beckman a fraternal sign of peace as he sat in the chair.

A choir of more than 80 adults and youth from throughout the Diocese of Knoxville, including several from churches and schools of other faith traditions, performed throughout the liturgy, accompanied by a 40-piece orchestra.

One song at the end of Mass was titled "Jesus Christ, Yesterday, Today, and Forever." Those are the same words Bishop Beckman has chosen as his episcopal motto, taken from Hebrews 13:8.

"Those words are for me central. He is the purpose of our life, the reason why we do what we do," Bishop Beckman said. "The mystery of his presence here at this Eucharistic table that fed us today gives us the nourishment to go out into the world as living witnesses of his unchanging love. I'm so grateful to be with all of you here today. This is a day of great beginnings, and it's because of Jesus Christ that we're here today."

Dozens of members of Bishop Beckman's family joined him at his ordination and installation, including parents Jimmy and Lois Beckman of Lawrenceburg. The new bishop is the oldest of six children, and many young nieces and nephews also attended the ordination.