Bishop takes Shreveport

Malone says he’s happy and sad at the same time

Bishop-elect Francis Malone delivers a homily during his farewell Mass for students at Christ the King School in Little Rock on Dec. 20.
(Special to the Democrat-Gazette/Aprille Hanson via Arkansas Catholic)
Bishop-elect Francis Malone delivers a homily during his farewell Mass for students at Christ the King School in Little Rock on Dec. 20. (Special to the Democrat-Gazette/Aprille Hanson via Arkansas Catholic)

When Monsignor Francis Malone was appointed by Pope Francis in November to become the next bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Shreveport, he realized it meant managing a major transition.

It required that Malone, 69, resign as pastor of Christ the King Catholic Church in Little Rock and its school of more than 600 students, and it meant stepping back from other responsibilities he holds in the church.

It also meant starting a new leadership role outside the diocese he has been a part of for more than 40 years.

The transition meant attending to smaller tasks, too, such as sorting through and packing the books, papers and bric-a-brac in the room that's served as his office at Christ the King for nearly two decades.

"It's incredible ... I didn't realize how much junk I had," Malone, now Bishop-elect Malone, said recently. "When you don't move for 19 years, you find things you didn't know you had."

Among those items were of notes and letters -- some from adults, but most from children -- given or sent to Malone over the years that he categorized as ranging from heartwarming to hilarious.

"'You're the greatest priest in the world.' 'I just think you're so funny.' 'I just loved the way you say [the word] master,''' Malone recalled as being among the sentiments.

It's meaningful, too, when those who wrote letters years ago during difficult times in their lives have contacted him again to express their appreciation once more.

"What it does, really, is it doesn't boost my ego," Malone said. "It's a reaffirmation that this is where God always wanted me to be."

ARKANSAS CONNECTION

Malone grew up in Philadelphia as one of nine children and -- as the result of a group of priests from that area leaving to serve as clergy in Little Rock -- was familiar with the Catholic clergy visiting the area to see their parents and siblings. He had the opportunity while in high school to visit his uncle, the late Msgr. Bernard Malone, while the latter was a pastor in southeast Arkansas. His uncle was among a number of priests who migrated to Little Rock during the 1940s and 1950s to serve in the faith.

After his ordination as a priest in 1977, the younger Malone served in a number of parishes and has a long history of educational ministry in schools, including Immaculate Conception School in North Little Rock and Little Rock's Mount St. Mary Academy.

Kathy House, principal of Christ the King School for the past 25 years, said Malone, who became pastor of Christ the King in 2001, was the second pastor the church has had since the school's founding in 1986. Among the tasks Malone makes sure to attend to are introducing new students on their first day of school and bidding farewell to others who are moving away. House recently passed out report cards to students in Malone's absence, a three-and-a-half-hour event.

"His heart's in it. He loves the kids," House said. "He really cares that they're happy and healthy and that they stay close to Jesus. ... He just has that connection with each kid, and he cares about their faith. It's somebody else paying attention to what they do."

The Rev. Erik Pohlmeier has taken on the role of pastor at Christ the King. Pohlmeier will lead the school and church in addition to his directorships at three diocesan offices separately devoted to preparation for priesthood or a religious order; for those seeking to become ordained as a deacon; and another for the continued education of clergy.

"He's what we call a priest's priest," Malone said of Pohlmeier, who was first assigned to the church after finishing seminary in the late 1990s. "He has a lot of grace and a lot of devotion, so he's a good example of what it means to be a priest."

Randy Tiller, chancellor of the Shreveport diocese, said among other responsibilities as bishop, Malone will handle the endowments, scholarships and tuition assistance programs spread among the diocese's two high schools and four elementary and primary schools.

"That's one of the beauties of [Malone] and his background, is he is so in tune with schools, and that he's the seasoned veteran that he is," Tiller said.

Erin Boelkens and her husband, Tyler, have been members of Christ the King since 2006 and came to know Malone when they went for premarital counseling sessions. Since that time, he has baptized their three children, all of whom attend the school, and Erin said every time her daughter sees Malone she runs up to give him a hug.

"We are extremely proud of him for becoming a bishop, and we're obviously going to miss him more than I can explain in words," Erin Boelkens said of Malone. "It's hard, but we know he is doing God's will."

PASSING IT DOWN

Christ the King began to see vocations -- young men from the parish entering seminary school to become priests -- after Malone began the prayer practice of perpetual adoration, prayer and adoration of the Eucharist (which Malone said was, in part, extra bread consecrated during Mass, meant to represent the body of Christ).

Jim Drake and his wife, Patti, were lay leaders in the church at the beginning of that program, and Jim Drake recalled Malone's persistence in growing what had been an overnight prayer session once a month into the 24-hour-a-day prayer.

"When it first started, people weren't really ready for it," Drake said, noting that the practice commenced during an Advent season.

"'This is perpetual, that's what this word means,'" he said Malone had told the parish. "He had to step back and kick start it again, and he was wonderful in making that happen."

Since the parish began perpetual adoration, Malone said there have been as many as 11 men from the parish studying at one time to become priests. Six Christ the King members have been ordained to the priesthood, and another five or six parishioners are still in seminary.

When participation in perpetual adoration began to ebb, so did the number of vocations. Malone addressed the concern at all five Masses, and with more participation, in a few months' time another parish member signed his intent to study and become a priest.

"It's just incidental, but there's a clear connection between the two," Malone said of perpetual adoration and its tie to increased vocations. "It's exciting to see. ... Of all the things that have happened during my almost 19 years here, that's the thing that stands out for me the most."

A LARGER FLOCK

As bishop of Shreveport, Malone will lead more than 40,000 Catholics in a diocese -- one of seven in Louisiana -- that's home to more than 812,000 residents. The Little Rock diocese, which encompasses the state, has slightly more than 156,200 faith members in a state of 3 million residents.

Malone will succeed Bishop Michael Duca, a longtime friend and former classmate who is now bishop of the Baton Rouge diocese.

His ordination in Shreveport, originally to be held at the Cathedral of St. John Berchmans in that city, was moved to the convention center, which can accommodate up to 2,500 attendees. House said at least 40 faculty members are traveling to see Malone's ordination on Tuesday.

For the past 10 years, Malone has preached the same sermon to students twice a year: once just before Christmas break and again before the end of each school year.

"The kids know what's coming," Malone said. "I say, 'Remember, don't do anything stupid, and don't take any unnecessary risks.'"

At a Mass given recently for Christ the King students to say farewell, several children stood up to give Malone parting advice:

"Just go there and preach the way you preached here."

"Just take a deep breath and preach about Jesus."

One child elicited laughter from the audience in giving advice Malone and the audience were well familiar with: "Don't do anything stupid, and don't take any unnecessary risks."

"As a priest to the kids at that Mass ... I said, 'Did you ever feel happy and sad at the same time?'" Malone said. "And they all shook their heads -- yes, they knew.

"That's how I feel. I feel happy and sad at the same time, but that doesn't stop me from continuing on to do what I'm convinced the Lord wants me to do."

photo

Bishop-elect Francis Malone (right) steadies Caroline Carle as students help fasten her uniform and shoelaces at Christ the King School in Little Rock. (Special to the Democrat-Gazette)

Religion on 01/25/2020

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