Michael Owen Jackels is the twelfth bishop and tenth archbishop of Dubuque in the U.S. state of Iowa. He was previously the Bishop of Wichita in Kansas, replacing Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted. Jackels was consecrated bishop at the Church of the Magdalen in Wichita on April 4, 2005.
Early life and education
Born in Rapid City, South Dakota, on April 13, 1954, Jackels frequently moved as a child of a military family from Wyoming to Spain to California before settling in Nebraska to complete his secondary studies. He reports that as a young man he renounced Christianity in favor of Buddhism, but returned to Catholic practice after reading a Bible given to him by a Protestant co-worker in the dishroom of a country club. Prior to joining Kentucky's St. Pius X Seminary in 1975, Jackels attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Jackels earned his B.A. in philosophy from St. Pius X in 1977. In 1981, he completed his Master's in Theology at Mt. Saint Mary's Seminary, Emmitsburg, Maryland.
Priesthood
After completing his master's degree, Jackels was ordained a priest for the diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska by Bishop Glennon Patrick Flavin in 1981. His first assignment was serving as the associate pastor of the Cathedral of the Risen Christ, and he also served as a teacher at Pius X High School in Lincoln. From 1982 to 1985, Jackels was assigned to be the associate pastor of St. Thomas Aquinas Parish on the campus of the University of Nebraska, and in addition to his teaching duties at Pius X High School, he also served as the assistant vocations director for the diocese during this period. In 1985, Jackels embarked on doctoral studies at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome, earning his doctorate in Sacred Theology in 1989. His dissertation was a study of St. Catherine of Siena. Upon completion of his doctorate, Jackels returned to Lincoln and for the next eight years served as the Diocesan Director of Religious Education, the Diocesan Master of Ceremonies, the Co-Vicar for Religious, and the Chaplain for the School Sisters of Christ the King. In 1994, Pope John Paul II honored Jackels by naming him a Prelate of Honor, earning Jackels the title of Monsignor. Jackels returned to Rome in 1997 to work for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith under Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. Pope John Paul II appointed Jackels bishop of Wichita in January, 2005.
Bishop Jackels joined the other three Kansas bishops in approving a pastoral letter opposing embryonic stem cell research. He has spoken against same-sex marriage and abortion, as well. He also opposes the death penalty and has written in the diocesan newspaper, Advance, in favor of what he views as more just immigration laws. He also voted to approve language changes in the Mass to bring the English translation into a better accord with the original Latin at the June 2006 meetings of the USCCB in Los Angeles. In areas outside of doctrine, he is active in promoting Catholic education, and helped to establish the Drexel Fund which calls for donations to help financially strapped Catholic schools within the diocese. The diocese has 48 seminarians, one of the highest numbers of seminarians per capita of diocesan Catholics in the United States. On May 30, 2008, Jackels served as a co-consecrator to Auxiliary Bishop James D. Conley of Denver, Colorado, who was a priest of the diocese of Wichita prior to his appointment on April 10, 2008. Bishop Jackels joins young Catholics in the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C.
