Next week our neighbors to the north in the Archdiocese of Seattle will be hosting a grand celebration. Archbishop Alexander Brunett will be marking the 50th anniversary of his priesthood ordination which took place in Rome back on July 13, 1958. He will also be anticipating his 15th anniversary of ordination as a bishop in the Diocese of Helena and commemorating the more than 10 years he has served as Archbishop of Seattle. We both were appointed archbishops the same day by Pope John Paul II, Oct. 28, 1997. That happens to be the feast of the apostles, Saints Simon and Jude. I always wondered whether that was a mere coincidence or the Lord was trying to tell me something. My neighbor to the north has been a wise counselor and good friend ever since we began to labor side-by-side here in the great Northwest.
Long before we became archbishops, I was acquainted with Archbishop Brunett. I arrived in Rome on Oct. 5, 1958, nearly three months after his priestly ordination. He was completing his fourth year of theological studies and I was beginning my first. In those days some of the fourth year men were ordained priests early in order to be available to celebrate the Eucharist for the sisters in the convent, the personale who labored at the seminary and for the seminary community itself. Because he was already a priest, I looked upon him with a certain wonder and admiration, hoping that one day I would reach the same goal. He was then a student for the Archdiocese of Detroit and I was a student for the Archdiocese of Chicago. Who would ever have thought we would become neighbors by moving to the great Northwest?

When Archbishop Brunett moved to Helena in 1994, he succeeded Oregon’s favorite son who is now the Archbishop of Omaha, The Most Rev. Elden Curtiss. Archbishop Curtiss was the first non-Benedictine priest to be the rector of Mount Angel Seminary. Archbishop Curtiss’ tenure in Helena was long and productive but Archbishop Brunett quickly settled in and even before he could settle down, he was appointed Archbishop of Seattle.

1997 was an interesting year, and a sad one too for Catholics in Seattle. In April of that year Archbishop Francis George was reassigned to Chicago after spending less than a year as archbishop here in Portland. More than two months later, Archbishop Thomas Murphy of Seattle, died after less than a year-long struggle with cancer. Suddenly two archdioceses were vacant and no one was surprised when Archbishop Brunett was asked to move to Seattle. The surprise occurred here in the City of the Roses when yours truly was summoned from Minnesota.

Archbishop Brunett is a pastor, ecumenist and interfaith expert par excellence. He has participated in many Jewish-Catholic programs. He was President of the Ecumenical Institute for Jewish-Christian Studies. He served as Director of the Division of Ecumenical and Inter-Religious Affairs for the Archdiocese of Detroit. He was also President of the National Association of Diocesan Ecumenical Officers and in 1996 we bishops elected him as Chairman of our USCCB Committee on Ecumenical and Inter-Religious Affairs. He has a passion for dialogue and currently serves as a member of the Vatican delegation which dialogues regularly with the worldwide Episcopalian community.

As many Oregonians know, our own archdiocese here in Portland was established back in 1846 as the Archdiocese of Oregon City. That same year St. James Church in Vancouver was established. It was then part of the new Diocese of Walla Walla which, together with Vancouver Island, was one of the original suffragan sees of Oregon City. The bishop of Walla Walla was The Most Rev. A.M.A. Blanchet, the brother of our own first archbishop, Francis Blanchet. There were lots of problems in the Walla Walla area and the church did not grow. In 1950 the Diocese of Nesqually was established in Washington State. The Diocese of Walla Walla was suppressed by 1953.

When the Diocese of Nesqually was established, Bishop Blanchet of Walla Walla was appointed its first ordinary. The administration of Walla Walla was transferred to his brother, Archbishop Francis Blanchet, in Oregon City. Bishop A.M.A. Blanchet took up residence across the Columbia River in Vancouver. Even though the diocesan see was in Nesqually, the first cathedral was at St. James in Vancouver.

Over the next 50 years, the population of the Diocese of Nesqually increased rapidly. Since Nesqually was at the time the only diocese in the state of Washington, Bishop Edward O’Dea, at the turn of the century, thought that a more central location for the seat of the diocese would be helpful. Hence he moved his offices from Vancouver to the booming port city of Seattle. Then on Sept. 11, 1907, the diocese was renamed after its new home in Seattle. Eventually two more dioceses were established in Washington, Spokane in 1913 and Yakima in 1951, the same year that Seattle became an archdiocese.

Sometimes folks outside the church become a bit confused about diocesan governance. They wonder why policies in one diocese are not the same in another. After all, aren’t Catholics the same everywhere? Well, not exactly. We certainly are united in the essentials of our faith, but not always in some of the pragmatic policies we establish to facilitate our mission in varied circumstances. It certainly is clear that our two archdioceses influence one another greatly and, even though ours may be the senior church of the Northwest, we have learned a lot from our fine neighbors to the north.

From time to time you notice that my calendar lists meetings with the bishops of the Northwest. There are now three archdioceses in the Northwest: Portland, Seattle and Anchorage. Our suffragan sees here are Baker, Boise, Helena and Great Falls-Billings. The suffragan sees for Seattle are Spokane and Yakima; for Anchorage, Juneau and Fairbanks. Together we bishops of the Northwest dialogue about many pastoral matters, meet annually for our spiritual exercises as well as other regional and provincial business and try to find some time for fraternal sharing and relaxation each summer.

Archbishop Brunett will preside at a special celebration of the Eucharist in St. James Cathedral of Seattle on Tuesday, July 8. The bishops of the Northwest will certainly be there to pray with him and support him. Many of his friends from Michigan, Montana and across the nation, Catholic and non-Catholic alike, will join in this Mass of thanksgiving as we honor a great churchman and ask the Lord’s blessings on his continuing service among our neighbors to the north. God bless you, Archbishop Brunett. Ad multos annos!