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  Denver Priest Named Bishop of Sioux City after Long Wait
R. Walker Nickless Will Lead the Diocese, to the Joy of Area Catholics after 22 Months of Anticipation

By Shirley Ragsdale
Des Moines Register [Sioux City IA]
November 11, 2005

After waiting 22 months — a modern record for a U.S. diocese to be without a bishop — Thursday's appointment of Monsignor R. Walker Nickless as Sioux City bishop was the answer to many Catholics' prayers.

Nickless, 58, has been vicar general of the Denver Archdiocese and pastor of Our Lady of Fatima Parish in Lakewood, Colo. He will be ordained bishop Jan. 20, 2006, in Sioux City.

"Our prayers have been answered," said Deacon LeRoy Rupp, who is communion minister at Immaculate Conception Parish in Cherokee.

"We have had six men ready to be ordained as deacons since June 2005, but we needed a bishop to do it. Our congregation has been waiting 15 months to be able to uncover our new altar. It must be blessed by a bishop before we can use it."

Said Deacon Tim Murphy of St. Lawrence Parish in Carroll: "There has been lots of anticipation.

"It will be two years and four days when this (bishop) is ordained. We've been maintaining the status quo in a lot of ways, and we're looking forward to new leadership."

Nickless will be the seventh bishop of the Sioux City Catholic Diocese. He replaces Bishop Daniel DiNardo who on Jan. 16, 2004, was named to a post with the Diocese of Galveston-Houston in Texas, said Jim Wharton, diocese spokesman.

"Bishop DiNardo is a wonderful man, and I'm privileged to follow in his footsteps," Nickless said in a phone interview with The Des Moines Register.

Ordained as a priest in 1973, Nickless served exclusively in the Denver Archdiocese. He said he studied at the North American College in Rome at the same time as DiNardo.

Nickless received a 4 a.m. call from Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo, the papal nuncio in Washington, D.C., informing him that Pope Benedict XVI had appointed him bishop. His immediate reaction was a "sensation of humility and a little fear," he said.

After the official announcement in Iowa and Colorado on Thursday, the bishop-elect toured Sioux City, celebrating Mass at the Cathedral of the Epiphany, and visiting Mater Dei School and Briar Cliff University.

"It has been a wonderful experience, and I'm in love with Iowa already," Nickless said. "Everyone has been so welcoming, and I'm counting on them for prayerful support."

Nickless has a reputation for being quietly effective, according to those who have worked closely with him in Denver.

"He is just a very gentle spirit," said Marie Sailas, who was Nickless' administrative assistant when he was vicar for clergy and seminarians. "I knew a long time ago he was bishop material. When I told him, he would just shrug his shoulders. To me, this is an answered prayer."

The Rev. Kevin Augustyn served as associate pastor under Nickless at Our Lady of Fatima Parish. The bishop-elect set a good example as a prayerful priest and as a leader, Augustyn said.

"As vicar of clergy, he represented the bishop to priests in good and bad times," he said. "He has a lot of experience with supporting priests but also with disciplining them."

The Iowa chapter of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests urged Nickless to make the protecting of children his top priority and to be open and honest with parishioners and the public about sexual misconduct in the church.

"We wish the bishop-elect well, but tangible actions will gain him respect from those who were betrayed by Catholic clergy," said Steve Theisen, Iowa SNAP director.

Despite the challenges, Nickless said he wants to "be the kind of bishop the church wants."

"I want to be a good shepherd and leader," he said. "When I have to make a tough decision, I do it after listening as much as I can."