On January 1, 2014, Father Jim Schmitz became Pastor at St. Leo the Great Church on Broadview Road in Cleveland, OH. On February 1, Bishop Richard Lennon "officially installed Fr. Schmitz as Pastor at the 4:00 PM Mass. He involved the parish staff, the Liturgical committee, and the Pastoral committee in the installation. Bishop Lennon was not that exciting, except that he said that the installation would start after he was done talking. This was during the Homily. He also was informal throughout the ceremony when he called him Jim instead of James. Father Schmitz, on the other hand, was more entertaining. He joked that he wished that Fr. Vesely, In Residence at St. Leo's, would speak up. (He has a booming voice at 85 years old.)
When the Mass was over, as I was exiting through the back of the church, I greeted Bishop Lennon, Fr. Schmitz, and either Fr. Al Krupp, Vicar for Retired Clergy, as well as Fr. Schmitz's Spiritual Director, or Fr. Joe Callahan, Pastor at Our Lady of Lourdes Church and a classmate of Fr. Schmitz. Other priests also in attendance were Fr. Ned Weist, Pastor of St. Leo's from 1986-1996, and Fr. Dan Schlegel, whose first assignment was at St. Leo's in 1988. He is also Fr. Schmitz's cousin. The priests that I did not greet were in the front of the church.
I was privileged to be in attendance.
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