News Release: Bishop Robert J. Carlson to Join Michigan Catholic Conference Board of Directors

(LANSING)—Michigan Catholic Conference announced Most Reverend Robert J. Carlson, bishopelect of Saginaw, will become a member of the Conference’s board of directors following his installation Mass today at the Cathedral of St. Mary in Saginaw.

Succeeding Bishop Kenneth E. Untener, who died March 27, 2004 of complications from Leukemia, Bishop Carlson will join the Michigan Catholic Conference board as a diocesan bishop of the Province of Detroit, which includes all seven dioceses of the state. Bishop Carlson was appointed as the fifth bishop of the Saginaw Diocese last December by His Holiness Pope John Paul II and comes to Michigan from the Diocese of Sioux Falls.

“Bishop Carlson is a welcome addition to the Michigan Catholic Conference board of directors and we look forward to his wealth of knowledge on matters concerning Church and state,” said Sister Monica Kostielney, R.S.M., MCC president and chief executive officer. “Bishop Carlson’s insight and faith will help continue the Conference’s commitment to advocate for the common good of our society.”

Born June 30, 1944 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Bishop Carlson attended St. Paul Seminary, where he received a B.A. in philosophy in 1966, and a Masters of Divinity in 1976. In 1979, he received his licentiate in Canon Law from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. He was ordained for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis on May 23, 1970 and was then ordained bishop on Jan. 11, 1984, serving as auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. On Jan. 13, 1994, he was named coadjutor bishop for the Diocese of Sioux Falls, and became the seventh bishop of that diocese on March 21, 1995 succeeding Bishop Paul V. Dudley upon his retirement.

Bishop Carlson has served as past president of the National Foundation for Catholic Youth Ministry, past chair of the United States Catholic Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Committee on Vocations and its Ad Hoc Committee on Youth, and a member of its Committee on Laity. Currently, he is Episcopal Advisor for the Cursillo Movement/Region VI, and chair of the USCCB Committee for Catholic Charismatic Renewal. His memberships include the Canon Law Society of America, the USCCB Subcommittee on Youth and Young Adults, and president of the Bishop’s Advisory Board at the Institute of Priestly Formation in Omaha, Neb. On October 3, 1998 Bishop Carlson received the Humanitarian of the Year Award from South Dakota Right to Life.

Michigan Catholic Conference is the official public policy voice of the Catholic Church in this state.

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