Bishop Kevin Joseph Farrell

DALLAS. Bishop Kevin Joseph Farrell was installed May 1 as the seventh bishop of the Diocese of Dallas during a historic Mass held at Cathedral Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe.

The Apostolic Nuncio from Washington, D.C., Pietro Sambi, the pope’s representative in the United States, read the apostolic mandate appointing Bishop Farrell to lead the Dallas Diocese at the ceremony, which filled the downtown cathedral with more than 2,000 people. The two-hour Mass was concelebrated by archbishops, bishops and priests from throughout Texas and the United States, including Archbishop Donald Wuerl and retired Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, both of Washington, D.C.

Bishop Brian Farrell, who is on staff at the Vatican in Rome and who is Bishop Kevin Farrell’s brother, also concelebrated.

… In his homily, Bishop Farrell noted that it was the feast of St. Joseph the Worker, guardian and protector of the Holy Family.

“In the Catholic community, the bishop fulfills a task that has many similarities to St. Joseph’s,” he said. This is well expressed in the preface of today’s Mass, which describes Joseph as “…that wise and loyal servant, whom you placed at the head of your family…with fatherly care he watched over Jesus Christ, your Son.”

Bishop Farrell acknowledged that to be a guardian of the faith is not an easy task.

“We live in a world where the tendency is to create our own God – a god in our own likeness and image – our own code of doctrine,” he said, “which suits our own particular lifestyle. The gospel of Jesus is not to be accommodated to the culture of the day, but it is the word of God, which must guide our life and culture.”