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  Former St. Louis Auxiliary Bishop Will Head Belleville Diocese

By Robert Goodrich
St. Louis Post-Dispatch [Belleville IL]
March 15, 2005

Bishop Edward K. Braxton slipped into Belleville Tuesday to meet with Catholics from the 28 Southern Illinois counties he will serve, but said he doesn't expect to be formally installed until early June.

Braxton, 60, has been bishop of the Lake Charles Diocese in Louisiana for the past four years. He will replace the Most Rev. Wilton D. Gregory, installed two months ago as archbishop of Atlanta.

At a news conference Tuesday at the chancery office in Belleville, Braxton said he was surprised at his selection but eager to return to Illinois and the St. Louis area.

"I have known of this strong Catholic community since my days at Chicago's St. Mary of the Lake Seminary, where I studied for the priesthood with seminarians from Belleville," he said. That was in the late 1960s.

Braxton also served as auxiliary bishop of St. Louis from 1995 to 2000. He was responsible for erecting the Wiktor Szostolo sculpture, "The Angel of Harmony," next to the St. Louis Cathedral Basilica on Lindell Boulevard.

He will be the eighth bishop of the Belleville diocese and its second African-American leader, following Gregory.

Braxton acknowledged a special interest in racial matters, but emphasized with quiet firmness that he will be bishop to people of all backgrounds.

"I think of it more as a ministry than as a job," he said.

But he's not without a sense of humor. The bishop opened the news conference with a tongue-in-cheek complaint that the lectern he planned to use for his notes was covered with microphones. "I will adapt," he quipped.

When asked if he had any hobbies, Braxton reeled off a list that included inline skating and white-water rafting. He said he enjoys world travel, but most journeys have been church assignments.

"I read a great deal," Braxton said. That includes a daily reading of The New York Times, which he said he reads for breadth of coverage, not necessarily because he agrees with its editorial positions.

Braxton said he has read little fiction recently, an exception being "The DA Vinci Code," a bestseller some Catholics view as an offense to their faith.

"There's a reason it's sold in the fiction section," Braxton said with a smile.

How was it he arrived in Belleville for a news conference four hours after his appointment was announced? "That's a secret," he said.

Truth is, he received enough advance notice to grab a toothbrush and an airline ticket, he said.

On a serious note, Braxton said that in his new assignment, "My first challenge is to learn." Like most bishops sent to a different diocese, "I do not have any intimate knowledge of this area."

Braxton said he had spoken to his predecessor, Gregory, the previous night, but the former bishop gave the new one no special advice. "He certainly encouraged me to come and enjoy myself and be happy."

Their acquaintance dates to their seminary days at Mundelein. "He was a server at my first Mass," Braxton recalled.

He was asked about sexual abuse by priests. Braxton said none was alleged during his episcopate in Lake Charles but that he had set up procedures to handle accusations should they arise - before a procedure was addressed at a bishops' meeting in Dallas in 2002.

Braxton said he would happily meet with victims. "Bishop Gregory certainly responded to those allegations," Braxton said. "We must be vigilant and aggressive."

Depending on the circumstances, he said, he might meet with people from the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.

That organization issued a statement urging that he make the protection of children and the healing of those harmed by clergy his first priority.

Braxton said he was eager to meet local leaders of other faiths. He said ecumenical collaborations "have always been an essential part of my ministry as priest and bishop."

Braxton was ordained a priest in May 1970 by the late Cardinal John Cody, then archbishop of Chicago. He was ordained a bishop in May 1995 - the 25th anniversary of his first Mass - by Archbishop (now Cardinal) Justin Rigali in the St. Louis Cathedral Basilica.

He has served as pastor in Oak Park, III., as deacon in Mount Prospect, III., and associate pastor in Chicago and Winnetka, III.

Braxton earned a doctorate in religious studies and theology at the Catholic University of Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium. He did parish work at U.S. military bases in Belgium and Germany.

He did graduate work at the University of Chicago Divinity school and taught theology at Harvard Divinity School University and the University of Notre Dame. He was appointed Scholar in Residence at the North American College of the U.S. Bishops' seminary in Rome in 1983. He has preached on four continents.

Braxton is fluent in French and has written two books.

Braxton's family includes his mother, Evelyn Braxton, 85, and three sisters.

His father, Cullen L. Braxton Sr., died in 1995, a week after his son's ordination as bishop. A brother, Cullen L. Braxton Jr., died in 1997.

Bishop Edward Kenneth Braxton

Born June 28, 1944, in Chicago. Third of five children of Evelyn and Cullen L. Braxton Sr. Studied for the priesthood at Quigley Preparatory Seminary, Niles College Seminary and University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary - all in the archdiocese of Chicago.
Ordained a priest for the archdiocese of Chicago on May 13, 1970, by Cardinal John Cody.
Graduate student at the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium from 1973 to 1975, earning a doctorate in religious studies and an doctorate of theology in systematic theology.
Returned to U.S. to study at the University of Chicago Divinity School.
From 1976 to 1977, filled the William A. Coolidge chair of Ecumenical Thought at Harvard Divinity School.
In 1978, became chancellor for theological affairs for James A. Hickey, then bishop of Cleveland.
Became special assistant for theological affairs for Hickey in 1980 when Hickey was installed as archbishop (and later cardinal) of Washington.
Also published "The Wisdom Community."
In 1983, became a scholar in residence at the North American College in Rome.
Returned to Chicago and was director of the Catholic student center at the University of Chicago until 1986.
From 1986 to 1993, was the full-time official theological consultant to William H. Sadlier Inc., a New-York based publisher of Catholic religious educational books.
In 1990 wrote "The Faith Community: One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic."
Called back to Chicago in 1992 to pastor St. Catherine of Sienna parish. Ordained a bishop for the archdiocese of St. Louis on May 17, 1995, by then-Archbishop Justin Rigali.
Installed as the second bishop of Lake Charles, La., on February 22, 2001.
Named eighth bishop of Belleville on March 15, 2005.

 
 

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