On May 30th, Archbishop Michael Jackels was installed as the 10th archbishop of the 175-year-old Catholic Archdiocese of Dubuque, IA.

Fr. Dustin Lyon, priest of St. Elias the Prophet Church in Dubuque, had the honor of representing the Metropolis of Chicago and the Orthodox community at the installation ceremony and Mass.

After a grand procession into the Church of the Nativity, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, the pope’s representative in the United States, read the Apostolic Mandate of Pope Francis, which officially installed Archbishop Jackels.

Immediately, various representatives of the Catholic Church were brought forward to welcome the new archbishop. Following them, representatives from other faith traditions, led by Fr. Dustin, and from government agencies, were also allowed to give their welcomes. The ceremonies concluded after a Hierarchical Mass.

Fr. Dustin had been invited to welcome Archbishop Jackels by special invitation. With the blessing of His Grace Bishop Demetrios, Fr. Dustin presented the new archbishop with an icon, which he painted, of St. Elias the Prophet, and welcomed him to the Dubuque community with “Axios.”

The Catholic Archdiocese of Dubuque is one of 194 Catholic dioceses in America, and one of 32 archdioceses, the only one outside of a major metropolitan area. The archdiocese serves 200,000 faithful Catholics, or 53% of the Dubuque population.