Former Arkansas bishop appointed to Seattle

The former bishop of the Diocese of Little Rock has been named the archbishop of Seattle.

Pope Benedict XVI accepted Seattle Archbishop Alex J. Brunett's resignation and appointed Bishop J. Peter Sartain of Joliet, Ill., as his successor.

The changes were publicized in Washington Sept. 16 by Archbishop Pietro Sambi, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

Archbishop Brunett, who was named to Seattle in 1997, is 76 years old. Under canon law, bishops must submit their retirement at age 75.

Archbishop-elect Sartain, who is 58, has headed the Joliet diocese since 2006. Before that he was the bishop of Little Rock for about six years.

A native of Memphis, he was ordained a priest in 1978. He earned a licentiate in sacred theology from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas (The Angelicum) in Rome. After returning to the United States, he served at several parishes in Memphis and as director of vocations, chancellor, moderator of the curia, vicar for clergy and vicar general in the Diocese of Memphis. He was the diocesan administrator from September 1992 to May 1993.

On March 6, 2000, he was ordained and installed as the bishop of Little Rock. During his time in Arkansas, Archbishop-elect Sartain served in various positions with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, including a member of the Administrative Committee and chairman of the Committee on the Home Missions.

Seattle was established as a diocese in 1850 and created an archdiocese in 1951. It comprises 28,731 square miles of the state of Washington. It has a population of 5.2 million people, with 579,500, or 11 percent, of them Catholic.

Read more in the Sept. 25 issue of Arkansas Catholic.

Timeline

June 6, 1952: Born in Memphis

July 15, 1978: Ordained a priest at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Memphis

Jan. 4, 2000: Appointed bishop of Little Rock

March 6, 2000: Ordained sixth bishop of Little Rock

March 2002: Issued first pastoral letter on U.S. sexual abuse scandal

July 2003: Updated diocesan sexual abuse policy

July 15, 2003: Celebrated 25th anniversary of priesthood

March 2004: Led pilgrimage to Mexico

August 2004: Published “Everything I Have is Yours,” a 31-page booklet on marriage, love and natural family planning

October 2004: Kicked off Year of the Eucharist in Diocese of Little Rock

March 6, 2005: Celebrated fifth anniversary as bishop by publishing book “Of You My Heart Has Spoken”

Sept. 7, 2005: Celebrated funeral Mass for his mother, Catherine Poole Sartain

Oct. 29, 2005: Led the Eucharistic Congress with 5,000 Catholics across the state

April 2006: Approved use of Why Catholic? adult faith formation program starting in Lent 2007

May 16, 2006: Appointed bishop of the Diocese of Joliet

June 27, 2006: Installed bishop of Joliet

Sept.  16, 2010: Appointed bishop of the Archdiocese of Seattle

Interesting facts

Bishop Sartain’s tenure in Arkansas was the shortest length of service in diocesan history.

He was the sixth bishop of Little Rock.

He was the first priest of the Diocese of Memphis to become a bishop.

To minister to the growing Hispanic population, he took a course in Spanish at the Mexican American Cultural Center in San Antonio in 2001.

He wrote a weekly column in Arkansas Catholic and published a collection of selected columns on his fifth anniversary in Arkansas in 2005.

Promoting vocations and prayer were constant themes during his ministry in the diocese.

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