Minnesota Bishop Retires Early While Seeking Health Treatment

[Michie]

The diocese did not specify what conditions afflict the Bishop LeVoir, who said Aug. 6 “it has been a privilege to have served the faithful of the Diocese of New Ulm.”


VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis has accepted the early resignation of Bishop John LeVoir, who has led the Minnesota diocese of New Ulm since 2008, and took a leave from his position last month to be assessed for physical and psychological concerns.

“I applaud Bishop LeVoir for recognizing his health concerns and making the request for early retirement. I thank him for his devoted leadership during his tenure as the shepherd of our diocese,” Msgr. Douglas Grams, Bishop Levoir’s vicar general in the diocese, said in an Aug. 6 press release.

Bishop LeVoir was not expected to retire until at least February 2021, seven months from now, when he will turn 75, the age at which bishops customarily submit letters of resignation to the pope. But the diocese said the bishop has been seeking treatment and assessment at a facility in Alma, Michigan, and will remain at the facility until September to begin a “therapy plan.”

The diocese did not specify what conditions afflict the bishop, who said Aug. 6 “it has been a privilege to have served the faithful of the Diocese of New Ulm.”

Continued below.
Minnesota Bishop Retires Early While Seeking Health Treatment

 

[chevyontheriver]

The diocese did not specify what conditions afflict the Bishop LeVoir, who said Aug. 6 “it has been a privilege to have served the faithful of the Diocese of New Ulm.”


VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis has accepted the early resignation of Bishop John LeVoir, who has led the Minnesota diocese of New Ulm since 2008, and took a leave from his position last month to be assessed for physical and psychological concerns.

“I applaud Bishop LeVoir for recognizing his health concerns and making the request for early retirement. I thank him for his devoted leadership during his tenure as the shepherd of our diocese,” Msgr. Douglas Grams, Bishop Levoir’s vicar general in the diocese, said in an Aug. 6 press release.

Bishop LeVoir was not expected to retire until at least February 2021, seven months from now, when he will turn 75, the age at which bishops customarily submit letters of resignation to the pope. But the diocese said the bishop has been seeking treatment and assessment at a facility in Alma, Michigan, and will remain at the facility until September to begin a “therapy plan.”

The diocese did not specify what conditions afflict the bishop, who said Aug. 6 “it has been a privilege to have served the faithful of the Diocese of New Ulm.”

Continued below.
Minnesota Bishop Retires Early While Seeking Health Treatment

He was one of the good ones. Someone once called him a living saint. He was a great pastor, a good mentor to junior priests, an early adopter of John Paul's theology of the body, fostered a new and dynamic order of women religious, he came as a co-officiant when my daughter got married. When travelling near New Ulm I would always try to drop in on him. If he was there he squeezed me in for a visit. I am sorry for the diocese to hear he has retired but am relieved for him personally. His diocese was a mess after the two previous bishops and he righted the mess. A noble Christian man.