West Texas Angelus editor Jimmy Patterson sat down with Most Reverend Michael D. Pfeifer, retiring fifth Bishop of San Angelo, on January 21, 2014, the day of the Bishop’s farewell Thanksgiving Mass at Sacred Heart Cathedral. Below are the bishop’s comments on his service to the Diocese of San Angelo and his thoughts of what lies ahead.
The Angelus: What are you feeling on this day? Bishop Pfeifer: I have mixed feelings. Feelings of a certain sorrow but feelings of satisfaction and of knowing that the diocese is going to be in good hands because we are receiving a very good shepherd. The feelings of separation and the sorrow evoked with it I went through a year and seven months ago when I had to write my retirement letter to Rome. That’s kind of like a high point when you come to the end. When you write that letter, it’s over so to speak. You know it is going to be over soon. There are a lot of emotions there. I was thinking (The Vatican) would reply a lot sooner than it did, so the emotions dwindled.
The Angelus: What was the response like from the people upon news that you had written your retirement letter? Bishop Pfeifer: I kept traveling and people had heard I was going to be retiring according to church policy. People told me goodbye and they thanked me. Some would give me a cake thinking they would not see me again. And I would come back a month, two months or three months later and they started asking. ‘Are you still here? What happened? We thought you had left?’ Rome postponed and postponed, but a year and seven months later I finally got a reply. Interestingly in the middle of all this a Pope resigned in the meantime. I sent my letter and 8-10 months late we got word that Benedict. I guess he sent his letter to the Lord.
The Angelus: What will it be like for you leaving San Angelo? Bishop Pfeifer: A lot of human feelings. This has been my home. I’ve never been in one place so long in all my life. It’s my home, my people, I’ve been involved in their life. I feel like I am part of their families, and that’s not easy to leave. But in the plan of God and of the Church, the Church is a wise mother and I think the policy is good. And it’s time. It’s time. A change for me, a time for the diocese of change. Hopefully we’ve done a lot of good things together. I don’t think it depends on one person or one man, but the entire community that has been involved for many, many years and I go away with basically a sense of satisfaction and gratitude for the good things we have accomplished. We all owe everything to God and to his Blessed Mother for the good things we have received. There are areas of improvement we could have had, but that is history. I put it all back in the hands of the Lord and we keep moving ahead.
The Angelus: Did you ever see yourself setting down roots for almost 29 years in one diocese?
Bishop Pfeifer: When I first named bishop, I started calculating from where I was in life until I would reach the age of 75. That was going to be 27 years or such and I wondered, ‘Will I make it 27 years?’ Where will I be? I had a wonderment and uncertainty. With God’s grace and blessing I made it through more than 27 years to 28½ years. I am grateful to the Lord. There have been some mistakes and I ask the Lord’s pardon for those. I have a lot of gratitude. Today, as I look at the Mass, the satisfaction is really dampened because we are on the eve of the most drastic and terrible decision of our Supreme Court, 41 years ago, giving he right to kill the unborn. Pro-life has been my No. 1 ministry, and the satisfaction I would feel now I find it hard to be in a celebration or thanksgiving mindset knowing we are on the eve of what brought about the death of over 56 million babies in the country. I can’t really have a spirit of joy because it just bothers me so much that it can happen in our country and there be so many killed, and thousands in the Planned Parenthood centers of our diocese. Thank God those centers are gone.
The Angelus: That has to be a high point of your time here to know it happened under your watch?
Bishop Pfeifer: It was a cooperative effort, working together, pleading and getting people involved in this issue. It was by God’s own design with the help of the Texas Legislature that it all came together. Pope Francis, in his letter, ‘The Joy of the Gospel,’ mentions that, too. The church in many ways has failed women, especially those who are contemplating abortion we have not reached out too enough.
The Angelus: Another positive during your almost 29 years has to be the amount of growth the Catholic faith has experienced in the diocese? Bishop Pfeifer: I was sharing with Chuck Sturgeon, one of the main builders in our diocese. He was reflecting and he said he and I had been involved in the building renovations or expansions of close to 100 buildings. In recent years, even though we had a recession, when we had to downsize the economy, we were building a number of buildings, thank God, that came to fruition and were paid for. We just completed a new church in Iraan, that has been one of my great goals. We have a big new building in Rowena. They just finished remodeling the whole inside of the church, and are doing that also in Olfen. Msgr. Droll plans to build a gathering hall in Lenorah, that’s another project I was hoping to move forward. We also have a building for expansion in Eldorado. We are completing the work of the building in Sonora, building classrooms in a new hall. Those are some of the projects, but in the past 5-10 years we have classrooms at Holy Redeemer in Odessa; St. Elizabeth Ann Seton has a really nice new youth center, there’s a new hall at St. Stephens, Msgr. Droll has the St Ann’s Chapel and Commons. Then on the south side San Miguel Arcangel. About that time when we were doing all these, we expanded the church in Junction, too. People have given generously to build or maintain new church buildings.
The Angelus: Anything you wish you could do over? Bishop Pfeifer: As I look back, there are a number of things I would have done differently. I find it strange when someone comes to the end of their time and they say, I would have done nothing differently.’ I say that can’t be true because that means that person learned nothing along the way and is instead saying ‘I knew it all’ and ‘I learned it all.’ Looking back I could have been more present. I would have liked to have done more. I would have like to have seen us all do more in the field of justice and peace. So many issues and we have done a lot. We have a lot of immigrants. They are in the shadows but when they see you after Mass and have the courage to come talk to you, that says something. I did initiate two immigration offices, but feel we could have done much more for the unborn. Also, I could have done more and we could have done more in writing letters and columns to the papers about these critical issues. I could have been more understanding of people around me I work with. I received a lot of advice but I could have learned more from them. There are hundreds of people I work with on councils, committees, staff, and I could have listened more to them and perhaps something would have been done better. From the first year I came into the diocese, I was developing a Day of Listening. We had listening sessions in every deanery. We collated that with the presbyteral council, took months to do that, and by listening, we hired a priest full time by listening. They also thought there should be more of a contemplative presence. As a result of the Day of Listening, the Carmelite sisters have been here 25 years. By listening you pick up on things. You can’t do everything, but you can pick up on a lot of things that lead you to do things differently. Another thing is the whole area of vocations. One of the best decisions we made was 15 years ago or so, we listened to the personnel board and they rad the names of potential vocations directors. The council asked me who I would name. We chose Fr. Barry McLean. He made a huge turn around in our vocations. We’ve ordained four last year, one this year and three next year.
The Angelus: What are your thoughts on Pope Francis? Bishop Pfeifer: He is a true gift to the spirit of the Church. He’s given a different approach to the Church in the world. He is calling us back to some of the basics, bringing us back to the grassroots level and reminding us that we are supposed to be a church for and with the poor. We sometimes get away from that. He has simplified the papacy. I don’t know what Peter the first pope, would have thought about some of the popes we have today, We also fall into the culture thing in these times. But Pope Francis is calling out the current state of the culture. He is saying here is the way Christ would want us to be. People have applauded him for that. Because they see this man is bringing us back with the spirit the way things should be. He is reaching out and making us more conscious of the poor, the needy and the repressed, and he is doing it in a much more dramatic way. I like some of his phrases. He says he doesn’t want their to be any airport bishops. In the “Joy of the Gospel”, he uses language in the Church I’ve never heard. He said, ‘I don’t want any sourpusses in the Church.’ How do you say that in Italian? I don’t know. But he is using phrases we can relate to. His thing is the church is like a battlefield and we are to take care of injured, sick and abandoned.
The Angelus: What’s ahead in retirement? Bishop Pfeifer: Well, it’s something new, so I don’t know fully what it is all about. I know I have gotten older. My energy is still high but not like it used to be. I realize it is time to make a change for the good of church, for me, for the people. There are certain things I am going to appreciate such as getting away from administration and being in charge. That’s very cumbersome but it has had to be done. Administration in Latin is administrare, which means to administrate the other ministries well. It will be a relief to get away from all that involves today. The whole mountain of material that comes our way, paperwork and meetings. Looking forward to keeping active in ministry and many things as long as health permits. Looking forward to becoming a priest again, working with people, the sick, the imprisoned, the poor. Offering Mass for the people. A lot of things remain uncertain and the uncertainty makes me kind of uneasy. I know I’ll be taken but I am sorry leaving the people behind. We just move ahead in the spirit of faith. The Lord has always taken care of me and he will in whatever time I have left on this planet.