Dozens of priests and deacons gathered with parishioners from Vicariate 1 and beyond for a farewell Mass for Archbishop-Designate Jeffrey S. Grob at St. Joseph Church in Libertyville, Illinois, on Dec. 18. The former Chicago auxiliary bishop, who was ordained on Nov. 13, 2020, and served as the episcopal vicar of Vicariate I, will be installed as archbishop of Milwaukee on Jan. 14. Bishop Grob tries on a cheesehead hat he was given while greeting people after his Dec. 18 farewell Mass in a receiving line. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

JOYCE DURIGA

COURTESY OF CHICAGO CATHOLIC

On the cold Advent evening of Dec. 18, friends, colleagues, priests and family gathered at St. Joseph Church in Libertyville, Illinois, to celebrate and bid farewell to Archbishop-Designate Jeffrey Grob, who, on Jan. 14, will become the next leader of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.

A Wisconsin native, Archbishop-Designate Grob’s installation will be a homecoming of sorts. He has served in the Archdiocese of Chicago since he started at the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary in 1989, three years before he was ordained a priest.

He was ordained an auxiliary bishop Nov. 13, 2020, and has served as the episcopal vicar of Vicariate I, which includes some of northern Cook County and all of Lake County, directly adjacent to his new archdiocese.

Archbishop-Designate Grob replaces Archbishop Jerome E. Listecki, who has led the Archdiocese of Milwaukee since 2010. Archbishop Listecki, 75, a Chicago native, was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago in 1975 and an auxiliary bishop in Chicago in 2000. Four years later, he was appointed bishop of La Crosse, before being assigned to Milwaukee.

In the four years he served as vicar of Vicariate I, Archbishop-Designate Grob made a point to visit as many parishes in the vicariate as possible. It was during those visits that fourth-degree Knight of Columbus Curtis Mitzelfelt met him.

“It’s always been a pleasure to do the fourth-degree honor guards for Bishop Grob,” Mitzelfelt said. “He’s just a wonderful man. He grew up on a farm like I did.”

Mitzelfelt and his wife, who are parishioners at St. Brigid Parish in Wadsworth, wanted to make sure they attended this special Mass.

“He’s humble. Down to earth. Very relatable, especially with the younger kids with Confirmation where we would see him the most for honor guards,” he said.

Patty Rimkus worked with Archbishop-Designate Grob when he was judicial vicar and was not surprised when he was named a bishop and now archbishop.

“I could see it in his future,” Rimkus said. “He’s a brilliant man, and Milwaukee is lucky to have him.”

Archbishop-Designate Grob has served the Archdiocese of Chicago in many, often simultaneous positions, including assistant chancellor, judge on the Court of Appeals, judicial vicar, chancellor, archbishop’s delegate to the Independent Review Board, archbishop’s liaison to lay ecclesial movements and new communities and vicar for canonical affairs.

He was also an advocate for the archdiocese’s Care for Creation ministry, said Michael Terrien.

“He’s always stood for caring for our common home and really responding to the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor and knew that those were connected,” Terrien said. “He’s a blessing and we will miss him.”

Fr. Matt O’Donnell, Pastor of St. Moses the Black Parish on the South Side of Chicago, attended the special Mass, “knowing that (Archbishop-Designate Grob’s) been a great priest and a great mentor to a lot of the younger priests in the archdiocese and just to celebrate this new moment in his history.”

Archbishop-Designate Grob is taking many strong qualities to his new diocese, O’Donnell said.

“I think one of his best strengths is what Pope Francis is calling for — to be synodal,” he said. “I think he is someone who really listens to others, and tries to get as much input and perspective on situations or decisions that have to be made before he actually makes them. I think that makes him a strong leader and someone who is going to inspire others with the vision he is going to bring to Milwaukee.”

Reprinted with permission of Chicago Catholic.

Archbishop-Designate Grob delivers the homily. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)