Priest Stefan Lipke of the Society of Jesus (SJ) was ordained a bishop on Sunday, February 2, at the Novosibirsk Cathedral. He was appointed Titular Bishop of Arena and Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of the Transfiguration in Novosibirsk on September 12, 2024.
It was in Siberia that Father Stefan's ministry in Russia began in 2011: one year in the pre-seminary in Novosibirsk, then five years in Tomsk. For the past six years, Father Stefan has served in the Archdiocese of Our Lady of God in Moscow, including heading the St. Thomas Institute.
The solemn Holy Mass on February 2 was celebrated by 11 bishops, including all members of the Russian Catholic Bishops' Conference and the Apostolic Nuncio to Russia, Archbishop Giovanni D'Aniello. Bishop Joseph Werth, ordinariate of the Diocese of Transfiguration, presided and preached at the Holy Mass. He was also the chief ordaining bishop, and as co-consecrators he was served by Bishop Clemens Pickel, ordinariate of the Diocese of Saratov, and Bishop Antoine Ilgit, SJ, apostolic vicar for the Catholics of Anatolia in Iskenderun, Turkey.
Father Stefan was accompanied on this day by fellow members of the Society of Jesus, clergy and monastics from different parts of Russia, as well as his parents and aunt, to whom he addressed with special warmth in German, thanking God for their presence.
At the conclusion of the solemn service, which lasted more than three hours, the newly ordained Bishop Stefan thanked all the participants of the Liturgy and, above all, God, who is invisibly present in the faces of those gathered and in all the words spoken within the walls of the Novosibirsk Cathedral on the occasion of his ordination.
About 30 people from our parish attended the solemn Mass, after which pilgrims from Kuibyshev had the opportunity to personally congratulate Fr. Stefan. Thanks be to God for our new Bishop, for the opportunity to praise God together for his great works!
Read also an interview with Fr. Stefan Lipke, SJ in anticipation of his chiarotony: https://cathmos.ru/shtefan-lipke-sj-doroga-otkryvaetsya-v-puti/
