Pope Leo XIV has accepted the resignation of Bishop Liam S. Cary, who has headed the Diocese of Baker, Oregon, since 2012, and named as his successor Father Thomas Hennen, current vicar general of the Diocese of Davenport and pastor of Sacred Heart Cathedral.
The resignation and appointment were announced by the Vatican on July 10, and publicized in Washington by Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the apostolic nuncio to the U.S.
Bishop Cary, 77, submitted his resignation on Aug. 21, 2022, when he turned 75, the age at which canon law requires bishops to submit their resignation to the pope.
Bishop-designate Hennen, 47, was born in Ottumwa, Iowa, and grew up the youngest of 11 children of the late John and Jo'An Hennen. He attended St. Ambrose University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in history and philosophy, then earned a Bachelor of Sacred Theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome while living at the Pontifical North American College. When he was in Rome, he attended the funeral Mass for St. John Paul II, who he described later as having an important impact on his priestly discernment.
Bishop-designate Hennen was ordained to the priesthood July 10, 2004 at Sacred Heart Cathedral by Bishop William Franklin. At his ordination, he said, "I thank God for the gift of ministry he's given me, and I hope and pray that I can share that gift with others."
Bishop-designate Hennen has served in several parishes in the Diocese of Davenport, and he has also spent much of his priesthood working with young people as part-time campus minister at the Newman Catholic Student Center in Iowa City from 2010-11; as a teacher at Assumption High School in Davenport from 2014-17; and as chaplain and director of campus ministry at his alma mater St. Ambrose from 2017-2021.
Campus ministry, he said at the time of the latter appointment, "must be careful not to portray itself as an entity whose sole purpose is to lecture students on all the things they should be saying 'no' to in college. It's about inviting them into something more complete and beautiful. It's saying 'yes' to Mass, prayer, reconciliation and growing in knowledge of their faith."
Bishop-designate Hennen served as diocesan director of vocations, and then associate director of vocations, from 2011-2021, during which time he was known to say that building relationships is key for encouraging vocations. In 2020, he was appointed vicar general, and in 2021, pastor of Sacred Heart Cathedral.
In a 2002 article in The Catholic Messenger, the newspaper of the Diocese of Davenport, from when he was in seminary, Hennen commented that the Holy Spirit's call to the priesthood remains, even with fewer men studying to become priests now than in the past.
"Committing oneself to a life of celibate chastity and a life of simplicity are not real popular choices right now in our society," he said. "But ultimately, I believe the call to the priesthood, religious vocations and lay ministry is the work of the Holy Spirit, and I refuse to believe the Holy Spirit isn't doing his job. It's up to us to respond ... that's what I'm trying to do."
Bishop-designate Hennen was a member of the Gender Committee formed by Bishop Thomas Zinkula in 2021 that drafted pastoral guidance regarding gender and sexual identity, published in October 2023, to help guide Catholic schools, parishes and others in their interactions with transgender persons and their families, according to a Nov. 4, 2021, article in The Catholic Messenger.
According to the article, then-Father Hennen said it was his work with Courage International, an apostolate for men and women who experience same-sex attractions, as longtime local chapter chaplain, that gave him the conviction to approach Bishop Zinkula "about the need to discuss the transgender issue."
"Starting this conversation is important," then-Father Hennen said. "Providing basic information to the people of our diocese is a first step."
"It's important to remember that for those who authentically experience this ... it is not something they choose. This idea that transgender people just out of the blue decide they want to be a different gender is mistaken," he said in 2021. "Somehow we have to figure out how to reconcile our theology, specifically our Christian anthropology, including the idea that we are body and soul, with how we approach these issues pastorally."
The approach of Catholics to transgender persons should not be "either/or" but should be "both/and," he added. "This notion that we have to choose either to be faithful to our Catholic teaching on the nature of the human person or welcome, love, and accompany transgender persons is really a false choice. In fact, it is precisely our understanding of the dignity of the human person that should motivate our love for transgender persons. Are there some appropriate accommodations that we could make as a Church that neither 'sell out' on our beliefs nor slam the door in the face of transgender persons? I think there may be. That's what we have to explore."
On a panel in June 2023 that explored ministry to people who are same-sex attracted, then-Father Hennen said, "When it comes to this particular ministry ... we should not feel forced into choosing between truth and love." And he added that "the truth is ultimately loving, the way that the truth is expressed is not always loving, and that's what we have to navigate very carefully, I think, as a church, and sometimes this process ... takes years, not minutes."
In January 2023, he began writing the Question Box column for The Catholic Messenger, newspaper of the Diocese of Davenport.
In his first column, he said he wasn't afraid of questions or being challenged, and, if he doesn't know the answer to something, he is "willing to find answers and share the fruits of my own knowledge and research to the best of my ability."
He added: "As I used to tell my high school students, I can’t make anyone believe or do anything, but when it comes to the various teachings and practices of our Catholic faith, I promise to do my best to faithfully represent the Church and not (at least intentionally) lead anyone astray."
The Diocese of Baker includes over 66,000 square miles in Oregon and has a population of about 532,730 people, of whom 33,350, or more than six percent, are Catholic. There are 36 parishes and 23 missions in the Diocese of Baker, according to its diocesan website.
