The newly ordained Bishop of the Diocese of Wheeling/Charleston, Bishop Mark Brennan, will pay his first visit to the Catholic Churches of the Greenbrier Valley on Thursday, Sept. 12 when he will celebrate Mass at 6 p.m. in St. Catherine of Sienna Catholic Church in Ronceverte. A covered dish dinner will follow in the parish hall.
“This is the first visit by the Bishop who was officially installed in his new position on Aug. 22 at St. Joseph’s Cathedral in Wheeling. During the evening of Sept. 12, the Bishop hopes to meet with all Catholics in the Greenbrier Valley during the Mass and the dinner which follows,” noted Father John McDonough, pastor of St. Charles Borromeo in White Sulphur Springs and St. Catherine of Sienna in Ronceverte as well as St. Louis, King of France, Mission in Lewisburg, Church of Mary Immaculate in Williamsburg and St. John, the Evangelist, Chapel in Sweet Springs.
A Boston native, Bishop Brennan attended public schools in Massachusetts and Maryland before entering St. Anthony High School in Washington, DC. He graduated from Brown University with a degree in history and entered Christ the King Seminary in Alleghany, NY, for a year of philosophy studies before attending the Pontifical North American College in Rome for his theological studies.
As a parish priest nearly his entire career, Bishop Brennan has served Catholic churches in Potomac, MD; Bowie, MD; Bethesda, MD; Washington, DC; and Gaithersburg, MD.
Bishop Brennan attended Spanish Language courses and Hispanic cultural studies in the Dominican Republic and in Colombia and later served as Director of Priestly Vocations in the Archdiocese of Washington, DC. He was appointed Auxiliary Bishop for the Archdiocese of Baltimore on Dec. 5, 2016, and was ordained as a Bishop on Jan. 19, 2017.
Music for the Bishop’s Mass will be provided by the choir of St. Catherine of Sienna Church and the dinner following the Mass are being hosted by the St. Catherine’s Altar and Rosary Society and the Parish Association of St. Charles Borromeo.
All Catholics in Greenbrier and Monroe counties are urged to take this opportunity to meet and hear the ninth Bishop of the 169-year old Diocese of Wheeling/Charleston.
The Church is located at the intersection of WV 63 West and Walnut Street, behind the Ronceverte Public Library. For additional information on the Bishop’s visit, contact the office of the Catholic Churches of the Greenbrier Valley 304-536-1813.
