Charlotte Bishop-Elect Michael Martin, OFM Conv., takes questions during a press conference at the diocese's pastoral center April 9, hours after Pope Francis announced his appointment as the fifth Bishop of Charlotte, succeeding Bishop Peter Jugis, who is retiring after 20 years as Charlotte's bishop due to health reasons. (Photo by Troy Hull)CHARLOTTE — Hours after news broke that Pope Francis had appointed him the new bishop of the Diocese of Charlotte, Bishop-Elect Michael T. Martin offered Mass for diocesan staff, fielded questions from the media, and visited Catholic Charities’ Charlotte food pantry.
Bishop-Elect Martin, OFM Conv., is a priest of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual and pastor of a parish in Jonesboro, Georgia, in the Archdiocese of Atlanta. His appointment came after Bishop Peter J. Jugis, who has served the diocese for 20 years, announced his retirement due to health limitations. Read more.
The two prelates concelebrated an 8 a.m. Mass in the chapel of the Diocese of Charlotte’s Pastoral Center for about 35 staff members, then Bishop-Elect Martin was introduced to a roomful of reporters. In opening remarks, he offered his service and attention to all the people in the 46 counties of western North Carolina that make up the Charlotte diocese.
“I realize that our Church and our area are growing in so many ways,” he said. “To the people of western North Carolina and Charlotte in particular who are of other faiths or of no particular faith, I look forward to being with you as we all strive to make our area a place of dignity, peace and prosperity for everyone, especially the most marginalized. To the faithful Catholics spread across 92 parishes and missions, I can’t wait to come to be with you, to listen to your story of discipleship and to know how best I can serve you.”
He thanked Bishop Jugis for his decades of ministry to the diocese – 20 years as bishop and 40 years as a priest – and for showing him a warm welcome, drawing laughter when he admitted that the two had never met before they first spoke by phone two weeks ago while Bishop-Elect Martin was standing in the parking lot of a Chick-Fil-A restaurant.
With a background in Catholic education including roles as a coach, teacher and principal, Bishop-Elect Martin said he looks forward to working with leaders of the diocese’s 20 growing Catholic schools.
“I want to do whatever I can to help our schools and the administrators in the mission of making our Catholic schools places that form engaged disciples,” he said. “That has to be the first priority of Catholic schools.”
He also talked about his experience working with young people, while serving as head of the Duke University Catholic Center, which serves about 2,500 Catholic students on campus.
Michelle Sutton, a former Duke University student who later worked with then-Father Martin while he was director of the Duke Catholic Center, listened to the livestreamed press conference and said his answers reflected his personality and approach to ministry.
“When he talked about how edified he was by the students today – something he talked about all the time at Duke – that wasn't just something he said for reporters,” she said. “That's how he approached his ministry. It was being with people and growing in relationship with others to help everyone get closer to God.”
The bishop-elect commended the diocese and Bishop Jugis’ leadership in promoting vocations to the priesthood as well as devotion among the faithful to the Eucharist. The diocese’s vocations program has nearly 50 seminarians enrolled, and every fall the diocese hosts an annual Eucharistic Congress that draws more than 10,000 people to Charlotte to celebrate their Catholic faith.
Bishop-Elect Martin also promised he would “get out of the office” and meet with people in different communities around the diocese to find out what their needs are – especially the poor and the marginalized.
“I think the greatest gift I can offer those who are marginalized is presence – I have to be with you and I want to make sure I’m doing that to the greatest extent possible,” he said.
“I am amazed and humbled that the Holy Father has faith in me to accept this service to you,” he concluded. “I am so honored to be here to serve the Church in the Diocese of Charlotte.”
Right after the press conference ended, Bishop-Elect Martin made an impromptu visit to Catholic Charities’ food pantry, which operates each Tuesday and Thursday at the pastoral center in Charlotte. There he greeted volunteers and staff who organize the food distribution to hundreds of people in need each week, and he prayed with a family who had come in for emergency food assistance.
— Christina Lee Knauss. Photos by Troy Hull
Read more:
Friends, family and faithful react to Bishop-Elect Martin’s assignment in Charlotte diocese
