Misplaced Pages

Styles of Paul Joseph Swain
Reference style	His Excellency The Most Reverend
Spoken style	Your Excellency
Religious style	Bishop

Paul Joseph Swain (September 12, 1943 – November 26, 2022) was an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as the eighth bishop of the Diocese of Sioux Falls in South Dakota from 2006 to 2019.

Biography

Early life

Paul Joseph Swain was born on September 12, 1943, in Newark, New York, to William and Gertrude (née Mohr) Swain. He attended public schools in Newark and graduated from high school there in 1961. Swain then entered Ohio Northern University, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in history in 1965. In 1967, Swain was awarded a Master of Arts degree in political science from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Following graduate school, Swain joined the United States Air Force as an intelligence officer. He served in the Vietnam War and received a Bronze Star. Swain was discharged from the Air Force in 1972. In 1974, Swain received a Juris Doctor from University of Wisconsin Law School. After working in private practice for a few years, he served as legal counsel and director of policy for Wisconsin Governor Lee Dreyfus from 1979 to 1983. After Dreyfus left office, Swain returned to private practice.

During his time with Dreyfus, Swain, a Methodist, became interested in the Catholic Church. He began reading about the church and attending mass. Swain was formally received into the Catholic Church in 1983 at Holy Redeemer Parish in Madison. Swain then attended Blessed John XXIII National Seminary, earning a Master of Divinity degree in 1988.

Priesthood

On May 27, 1988, Swain was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Madison at the Cathedral of St. Raphael in Madison by Bishop Cletus O'Donnell. His first assignment was as associate pastor of Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary Parish in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin. He later served as pastor of St. Mary of Pine Bluff Parish in Cross Plains, Wisconsin, and St. Bernard Parish in Middleton, Wisconsin.

Swain also served as assistant to the bishop, vice chancellor, moderator of the curia, and vocations director. Pope John Paul II named Swain a prelate of honor, allowing him the title of "Monsignor". At the end of his tenure in the diocese, Swain was named rector of the Cathedral of St. Raphael and vicar general.

On March 14, 2005, while Swain was serving at the cathedral in Madison, it was torched by William Connell, a resident of Lodi, Wisconsin. Due to its damage, the cathedral was later demolished. In 2006, Swain met with Connell to offer him forgiveness. Connell expressed great regret for his actions. Swain said at the time of the fire:

As soon as I learned it was arson, I just couldn't believe somebody would do that, unless the person were troubled, and so I never really had any bitterness. I honestly believe from other aspects of my life that God uses these moments that seem tragic to deepen our faith and to call us to be more profoundly who we are.

Bishop of Sioux Falls

On August 31, 2006, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Swain as the eighth bishop of Sioux Falls, replacing Bishop Robert Carlson. Swain was consecrated on October 26, 2006, at the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Sioux Falls by Archbishop Harry Flynn, with Bishops Robert Carlson and William Bullock as co-consecrators. Swain's episcopal motto is "Give Praise to the Lord".

A member of the Knights of Columbus and the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, Swain served on the board of directors for both Blessed John XXIII National Seminary and Saint Paul Seminary.

On March 25, 2019, Swain released a list of 11 priests from the diocese with "substantiated allegations" of child sexual abuse from the 1940's into the 1990's. Swain made this statement:

Victims of sexual abuse too often suffer in silence. Many have shared that they remain silent for fear they will not be believed. By identifying those clergy in our diocese who have had substantiated allegations made against them and providing an accounting of how these were handled over the years.

Retirement and death

On December 12, 2019, Pope Francis accepted Swain's resignation as bishop of the Diocese of Sioux Falls.

Swain died in hospice care in Sioux Falls, on November 26, 2022, at the age of 79.

See also

• Biography
• Catholicism

• Catholic Church hierarchy
• Catholic Church in the United States
• Historical list of the Catholic bishops of the United States
• List of Catholic bishops of the United States
• Lists of patriarchs, archbishops, and bishops

References

1. ^ Bishop Paul J. Swain. Diocese of Sioux Falls.
2. ^ Bishop Paul Joseph Swain [Catholic-Hierarchy]
3. ^ Bishop Paul Swain background
4. Pope Benedict XVI Names Msgr. Paul J. Swain Eighth Bishop of Diocese of Sioux Falls, South Dakota
5. Parish Leadership Day to focus on forgiveness (PDF), archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04, retrieved 2013-01-11
6. "Tragic fire destroys 150-year-old St. Raphael Cathedral in 2005". Madison Catholic Herald. 2021-09-22. Retrieved 2021-11-22.
7. Callison, Jill. "Wisconsin Priest appointed Bishop." (September 1, 2006), Argus Leader
8. Diocese of Sioux Falls
9. Bishop Paul Joseph Swain
10. Joyful day for the new bishop and his diocese
11. ^ Lee, Stephen (25 March 2019). "Sioux Falls bishop releases list of 11 Catholic priests accused of sexual abuse of children". Capital Journal. Retrieved 2021-11-22.

External links

• Roman Catholic Diocese of Sioux Falls Official Site

v t e Roman Catholic Diocese of Sioux Falls
Bishops	Martin Marty Thomas O'Gorman Bernard Joseph Mahoney William O. Brady Lambert Anthony Hoch Paul Vincent Dudley Robert James Carlson Paul J. Swain Donald DeGrood
Churches	Cathedral St. Joseph Cathedral Parishes St. Anthony's Church, Hoven St. Peter's Church, Jefferson Holy Rosary Church, Kranzburg Holy Family Church, Mitchell St. Mary's Church, Salem St. Wenceslaus Church, Tabor St. Agnes Church, Vermillion Former St. Ann's Church, Badus St. Placidus Church, Gann Valley Holy Trinity Church, Kimball St. Scholastica Church, Letcher St. Agnes Church, Utica St. John the Baptist, Yankton County St. Mary's Church, Zell
Education	High schools O'Gorman Catholic High School, Sioux Falls Roncalli High School, Aberdeen St. Mary High School, Dell Rapids Affiliated schools St. Joseph's Indian School (K-8, dormitory for HS)
Priests	Thomas Gullickson Donald Joseph Kettler Michel Mulloy
Other	Old St. Wenceslaus Catholic Parish House
Catholicism portal

v t e Roman Catholic Diocese of Madison
Bishops	Ordinaries William Patrick O'Connor Cletus F. O'Donnell William Henry Bullock Robert C. Morlino Donald J. Hying Auxiliaries Jerome J. Hastrich George Otto Wirz
Churches	Cathedral St. Raphael's Cathedral Parishes St. Peter's Church, Ashton Church of St. Thomas the Apostle, Beloit St. Patrick's Church, Benton St. Bernard's Church, Madison St. Patrick's Church, Madison St. Bernard's Church, Watertown Historic Our Lady of Loretto Church, Honey Creek St. Augustine Church, New Diggings St. Joseph's Church, Shields St. Wenceslaus Church, Waterloo
Education	Higher education Edgewood College High schools Edgewood High School of the Sacred Heart, Madison St. Ambrose Academy, Madison
Priests	Paul J. Swain
Cemeteries	Mount Olivet Cemetery, Janesville
Catholicism portal

• 1943 births
• 2022 deaths
• People from Newark, New York
• People from Madison, Wisconsin
• Military personnel from New York (state)
• Military personnel from Wisconsin
• Roman Catholic Diocese of Madison
• Roman Catholic bishops of Sioux Falls
• Bishops appointed by Pope Benedict XVI
• Converts to Roman Catholicism from Methodism
• University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Letters and Science alumni
• University of Wisconsin Law School alumni
• Wisconsin lawyers
• 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States
• Members of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre
• Catholics from New York (state)
• Catholics from Wisconsin