With similarities to Detroit, Bishop McClory will have work cut out for him in diverse, industrial Gary, Indiana parishioners say

GARY, Ind. — Ask the people of Gary, Ind., what they’d like to see from their new shepherd, and they’ll tell you one priority rises to the top: unity.

Ask the people of the Archdiocese of Detroit what kind of leader Bishop Robert J. McClory is, and they’ll tell you one thing: he’s a uniter.

Clergy and lay leaders of the Diocese of Gary were excited for the arrival of their new bishop, who was ordained Gary's fifth bishop on Feb. 11 at the Cathedral of the Holy Angels, with many getting to know their new spiritual leader for the first time.

“I don’t know a whole lot, but I’m looking forward to learning about him,” Adina Wiseman, a parishioner at St. Mary of the Lake Parish in Gary, told Detroit Catholic. “I’m excited to see what he has in store for us.”

Wiseman said she’s confident Bishop McClory’s background as a leader in a diverse city like Detroit will translate to the industrial northwest Indiana diocese, which was founded in 1956, half a century after the city of Gary was built in 1906 by the U.S. Steel Corporation.

Today, the Gary diocese comprises 64 parishes in four counties of northwest Indiana. Despite the diocese's relatively small geographic footprint, its parishes couldn't be more diverse, Wiseman said, with some rural and some urban, some poor and some wealthier. Masses are regularly celebrated in Spanish, Polish, Croatian, Hungarian and Lithuanian, among others.

“There are a lot of different churches in the diocese,” Wiseman said. “Some are struggling and some aren’t, and hopefully we can all unite and stay strong.”

Bishop McClory stopped to greet clergy and parishioners at St. Michael the Archangel Parish in Shererville, Ind., on Monday night, during a special Vespers service the night before his ordination.

Deacon Ronald Pyle, who serves at St. Michael, echoed Wiseman’s hopes for the new bishop. “People are very caring, and we’re a very proud diocese,” Deacon Pyle said. “We have a very industrial base here. We’re very hardworking people, but we’re very faithful.”

St. Michael the Archangel is just a few miles away from the Cathedral of the Holy Angels in Gary, where the ordination Mass took place in a visibly distressed part of the city.  

Deacon Pyle said he hoped Bishop McClory “would be able to touch the hearts of everyone” in the local Church, including the city's downtrodden and poorer neighborhoods.

“We’re a very diverse diocese, and I pray he can touch all of our hearts in some way and bring us closer to Jesus, like his motto — (“We Proclaim Jesus As Lord”) — says,” Deacon Pyle said.

Bishop McClory arrives in the Gary diocese with high praise from his former stomping grounds, including his former boss, Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron.

Archbishop Vigneron, who in 2009 appointed Bishop McClory to lead the Archdiocese of Detroit’s Central Services as vicar general and moderator of the curia, said Bishop McClory “has a great pastoral heart.”

“He cares very much about the spiritual well-being of the people he cares for,” Archbishop Vigneron said in a statement. “He has a missionary zeal. I think he is an outstanding pastor who brings a wide range of very significant talents to the priestly ministry.”

Bishop McClory was instrumental in planning, coordinating and organizing the Archdiocese of Detroit’s synod in 2016, which led to the archdiocese’s current Unleash the Gospel movement, which seeks to incorporate a wide range of pastoral views. It’s experience that should serve him well in Gary, said Bishop Donald J. Hying, Gary’s fourth bishop and Bishop McClory’s predecessor.

“What I know of Bishop McClory’s pastoral and administrative skills and experience, clearly he will offer wisdom, insight and vision as he leads the Diocese of Gary as its fifth bishop,” said Bishop Hying, who now leads the Diocese of Madison, Wis. “He is uniquely poised to continue to build on Gary’s 2017 synod.”

As a priest with both pastoral and administrative experience at the diocesan and parish levels, Bishop McClory learned how to handle complex challenges with grace, said Fr. John McKenzie, associate pastor of the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak, where Bishop McClory has served as pastor since 2017.

“As a leader, he definitely puts a lot of trust in his associate pastors,” said Fr. McKenzie, who was ordained to the priesthood in June 2019. “He’s able to delegate. He doesn’t retain ‘power,’ you might say, but he’s a real mentor and guide. 

“I’m really learning a lot while being at Shrine, and most of that is his style of leadership, which I’ve found to be innovative for the Catholic Church,” Fr. McKenzie said.

Fr. McKenzie added his parish family feels “joy” for Bishop McClory’s appointment, “but also a bit of sadness that he’s no longer going to be pastor of Shrine.”

“I think he’s a dynamic pastor, a dynamic man and a very good priest who loves his people and loves the priesthood,” Fr. McKenzie said. “In his new role as chief shepherd of Gary, he’s going to continue to do dynamic things for the sake of Christ and his Church.”

Jill Scott, a parishioner at Queen of All Saints Parish in Michigan City, Ind., said she’s ready for that kind of energy in the Diocese of Gary.

“I would tell him that this diocese is ready for great leadership and spiritual renewal,” Scott said. “Any time you have a fresh perspective, it’s great. I’m looking forward to deepening my faith, and for him to lead us during a very difficult time in this nation, to bring us together. We’re ready to be brought together.”