Bishop Gainer Credits ‘Church in General’ for Tenure
HARRISBURG – The Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg welcomes its 12th Bishop today, as Bishop Timothy Senior will be installed during a special mass in Harrisburg.
Soon-to-be Bishop Emeritus, Bishop Ronald Gainer spoke with WKOK recently reflecting on his nine-year tenure.
He credits the ‘church in general’ for navigating unprecedented times, “We could easily allow anyone of those situations to get us off track, and to forget the mission that Christ has given us as his church. It took a lot of time and energy and work to address those situations. I always wanted our staff at the diocese and in our parishes to keep our focus on Christ.”
Those unprecedented times included the grand jury report on clergy sex abuse which also sent the diocese into bankruptcy, and the COVID pandemic.
Something good came from the pandemic, Bishop Gainer says the diocese’s increased media presence has been a positive, “The live streaming of our masses, and in general, using social media more to get the word of Christ and the message of our church out to the general public.”
As Bishop Senior is installed as the 12th Bishop of the Harrisburg Diocese, Gainer is excited about the future, “I’ve known him for over 30 years. He has a great heart and a man of many, many gifts. I know through his shepherding now, the Lord will continue to lead us in a direction we need to go. But I encourage everyone to keep our eyes on Christ.”
The 75-year-old Gainer now goes into a required retirement by the Catholic Church. As Bishop Emeritus, Gainer says he’ll still be available for any services needed in the diocese in the future.
Bishop Gainer was on the campus of Susquehanna University to address the Upper Susquehanna Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. He addressed the Lutheran’s group about ecumenical relations.
You can hear all of his remarks next week on WKOK Sunrise.
