NEW BISHOP APPOINTED!! Go to www.dioknox.org for more info.
Pope Francis has appointed Father James Mark Beckman, 61, a priest of the Diocese of Nashville for more than three decades, as the fourth Bishop of the Diocese of Knoxville. The appointment was announced in Washington, D.C., on May 7, 2024, by Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States.
“I am blessed and honored to accept this appointment from the Holy Father,” Bishop-elect Beckman said. “I am a native Tennessean, and I am grateful that I can continue serving the Church and now the faithful of the Diocese of Knoxville in this region that I know well and love tremendously.”
Archbishop Shelton J. Fabre will continue to lead the Diocese of Knoxville as apostolic administrator until Bishop-elect Beckman’s episcopal ordination in late July.
“I have known Bishop-elect Beckman for a long time,” Archbishop Fabre said. “We were seminarians together at the Catholic University in Louvain, Belgium many years ago. I believe in my heart that he will be a good shepherd for the faithful of the Diocese of Knoxville.”
Bishop-elect Beckman was born on October 19, 1962, in Lawrenceburg, Tenn., which is located within the Diocese of Nashville. He attended Sacred Heart School and Lawrence County High School and received a bachelor’s degree in history from St. Ambrose College in Davenport, Iowa in 1984. He also earned a master’s degree in religious studies from the Catholic University in Louvain, Belgium in 1988.
He was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Nashville by Bishop James D. Niedergeses on July 13, 1990. He served as associate pastor of Holy Rosary Parish, Nashville (1990-91); teacher and associate principal of Father Ryan High School, Nashville (1990-96); pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, Springfield, Tenn. and St. Michael Mission, Cedar Hill, Tenn. (1996-2002); pastor of St. Matthew Parish, Franklin, Tenn. (2002-15); and pastor of St. Henry Parish, Nashville (2015-present).
NEW BISHOP APPOINTED!! Go to www.dioknox.org for more info.
Pope Francis has appointed Father James Mark Beckman, 61, a priest of the Diocese of Nashville for more than three decades, as the fourth Bishop of the Diocese of Knoxville. The appointment was announced in Washington, D.C., on May 7, 2024, by Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States.
“I am blessed and honored to accept this appointment from the Holy Father,” Bishop-elect Beckman said. “I am a native Tennessean, and I am grateful that I can continue serving the Church and now the faithful of the Diocese of Knoxville in this region that I know well and love tremendously.”
Archbishop Shelton J. Fabre will continue to lead the Diocese of Knoxville as apostolic administrator until Bishop-elect Beckman’s episcopal ordination in late July.
“I have known Bishop-elect Beckman for a long time,” Archbishop Fabre said. “We were seminarians together at the Catholic University in Louvain, Belgium many years ago. I believe in my heart that he will be a good shepherd for the faithful of the Diocese of Knoxville.”
Bishop-elect Beckman was born on October 19, 1962, in Lawrenceburg, Tenn., which is located within the Diocese of Nashville. He attended Sacred Heart School and Lawrence County High School and received a bachelor’s degree in history from St. Ambrose College in Davenport, Iowa in 1984. He also earned a master’s degree in religious studies from the Catholic University in Louvain, Belgium in 1988.
He was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Nashville by Bishop James D. Niedergeses on July 13, 1990. He served as associate pastor of Holy Rosary Parish, Nashville (1990-91); teacher and associate principal of Father Ryan High School, Nashville (1990-96); pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, Springfield, Tenn. and St. Michael Mission, Cedar Hill, Tenn. (1996-2002); pastor of St. Matthew Parish, Franklin, Tenn. (2002-15); and pastor of St. Henry Parish, Nashville (2015-present).
