Fabian Bruskewitz - Episcopal Career

Episcopal Career

On March 24, 1992, Bruskewitz was appointed the eighth Bishop of Lincoln, Nebraska. He received his episcopal consecration on May 13, 1992, from Archbishop Daniel E. Sheehan, with Bishops Glennon Flavin and Leo Brust serving as co-consecrators, at the Cathedral of the Risen Christ.

The diocese has the highest priest-to-Catholic ratio in the United States. Father Robert Matya and Monsignor Timothy Thorburn attribute this fact to Bruskewitz' emphasis on orthodoxy, though the Catholic News Agency credits part of the success to the presence of a seminary within the diocese and points out that the adjacent diocese of Omaha has the second highest ratio. With regard to Lincoln and other dioceses with many priests, it has been noted: "Fidelity to the magisterium and traditional spirituality are strikingly manifest." Bruskewitz himself notes that "the orthodoxy, conservatism, and enthusiasm of the clergy, both young and old, bear witness to the splendor of the Catholic priesthood in southern Nebraska."

Bruskewitz is considered one of the most conservative bishops in the Church, having described homosexual acts as "intrinsically disordered" and as not coming "from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity". Furthermore, his diocese is currently the only one in the United States where female altar servers are not allowed diocese-wide.

Bishop Bruskewitz published a book entitled Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz: A Shepherd Speaks.

On September 6, 2010, Bishop Bruskewitz formally submitted his resignation to Pope Benedict XVI upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 75 for bishops. Pope Benedict accepted his resignation on September 14, 2012, and appointed Bishop James D. Conley, auxiliary of the Archdiocese of Denver, as his successor.