Pope Francis appoints Detroit’s Bishop Battersby to lead Diocese of La Crosse

Bishop Battersby, 63, will succeed Bishop William P. Callahan as shepherd of western Wisconsin diocese home to 135,000 faithful

DETROIT — Detroit Auxiliary Bishop Gerard W. Battersby will become the 11th bishop of the Diocese of La Crosse, Wisconsin, the Holy See announced early March 19.

Bishop Battersby, 63, will succeed Bishop William P. Callahan, OFM Conv., as the spiritual leader of the west-central Wisconsin diocese, which serves 135,000 Catholics in 19 counties in the Badger state with a total population of 875,000 people.

A native of Detroit, Bishop Battersby has served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Detroit since 2017, and has been a key leader in the archdiocese’s missionary transformation since Synod 16.

He will be installed in the Diocese of La Crosse on Monday, May 20, at the Cathedral of St. Joseph the Workman.

“It is with joy that I received the news that the Holy Father had named me the 11th Bishop of the Diocese of La Crosse, Wisconsin,” Bishop Battersby said. “When I was baptized, ordained a priest, and consecrated a bishop, I received a call within a call, an invitation to follow. The Risen One has bid me to follow him to western Wisconsin, to the banks of the Mighty Mississippi. I leave with hope and anticipatory joy.”

A press conference took place Tuesday morning in La Crosse introducing Bishop Battersby to the Wisconsin faithful.

Since his episcopal ordination, Bishop Battersby has been at the forefront of the Archdiocese of Detroit’s efforts to implement Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron’s pastoral vision laid out in the archbishop’s pastoral letter, “Unleash the Gospel,” serving as chairman of the archdiocese’s Unleash the Gospel Pastoral Council in addition to his role as moderator of the archdiocese’s South and later Northwest region.

Archbishop Vigneron praised Bishop Battersby’s contributions to the Archdiocese of Detroit throughout his time as a priest and bishop, adding the Diocese of La Crosse will benefit from his leadership.

“The Archdiocese of Detroit has been blessed by the gift of Bishop Battersby’s ministry, nearly 26 years of dedicated service as priest, faculty member at Sacred Heart Major Seminary, and auxiliary bishop,” Archbishop Vigneron said. “Like a truly joyful, missionary disciple, Bishop Battersby has always faithfully answered the call to go forth in new ways to share the Good News of Christ. As his bishop and brother priest, I am particularly grateful for his contributions to the Archdiocese’s Synod 16 and for his support of its fruit, our mission to unleash the Gospel.

“The gift of Bishop Battersby’s ministry now goes to the people of La Crosse,” Archbishop Vigneron added. “The priests, religious, and faithful of Detroit send him there with our heartfelt prayers of gratitude.”

With his appointment to the Diocese of La Crosse, Bishop Battersby joins a long line of Detroit priests and auxiliary bishops to be asked to shepherd other flocks, particularly in the Midwest. Other Detroiters currently serving in the Midwest include Bishop Robert J. McClory of Gary, Ind., and Bishop Earl A. Boyea of Lansing.

In addition to 156 parishes and 65 schools, the Diocese of La Crosse is home to St. Rose of Viterbo Convent, the motherhouse of the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration; and the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which opened in 2008.

Bishop Callahan offered a warm welcome to Bishop Battersby as he reflected upon the gift of serving La Crosse’s faithful.

“As I move forward, I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to everyone who has made my time in the Diocese of La Crosse so meaningful,” said Bishop Callahan, 73, who has served in La Crosse since 2010 and is retiring for health reasons. “I look forward to continuing my service to Bishop Battersby and spiritual service to brother priests and deacons in La Crosse. I am grateful for the opportunity to remain in this wonderful community for as long as God allows, and I will cherish the memories and experiences I have had here.”

Speaking during a news conference Tuesday morning from the Diocese of La Crosse's pastoral center, Bishop Battersby thanked God for his appointment and asked for prayers from the Wisconsin faithful.

"As I come to you today, I don't come to you as the best bishop you could receive," Bishop Battersby said. "If you want the best bishop you can receive, you're going to have to fast and pray for me that the Holy Spirit might make me the one that you need, the one that He has in store for you. I ask you to pray for me, to love me and receive me, and to allow me to bring Jesus to you in the way that the Holy Spirit has gifted me these many years of priesthood."

Bishop Battersby said he received news of his appointment shortly after celebrating Mass for a priest friend in the Archdiocese of Detroit. His phone rang while he was devesting in the parish sacristy.

"My phone lit up, and it was a number from Washington, D.C. I only know one person from Washington, D.C., and it's not the president. It was the pope's ambassador. And the only thing I said was, 'Oh no,'" Bishop Battersby said, eliciting laughter in the room.

Bishop Battersby said he tried answering the call twice, but his phone dropped the call both times. When he finally called back, he learned the news from the papal nuncio.

"He said, 'The Holy Father is sending you to La Crosse,'" Bishop Battersby said. "Now, you know as well as I do, we look and see what (dioceses) are open. I didn't know La Crosse was open, but I'm sure glad that it was."

Bishop Battersby thanked Bishop Callahan for his warm hospitality and acknowledged his predecessors in La Crosse as "superior men of faith" and "dedicated churchmen who are in their very heart disciples of Christ."

"I thank God for them and ask you with me to continue to pray for them," Bishop Battersby said. "I'm also aware that God has something new planned for La Crosse. And I mean that not because I'm here and I'm special, but because Jesus is Lord and he is risen, and we are his witnesses."

Bishop Battersby grew up as the youngest of nine children — along with his twin brother, Chris — to Chris and Helen Battersby on Detroit’s northwest side. His family attended St. Benedict Parish, where his young faith was nurtured.

Although he didn’t enter seminary immediately after high school — he attended Wayne State University, earning a degree in biology in 1983 — the calling to the priesthood was a constant presence. A decade later, he entered Sacred Heart Major Seminary in 1993, and was ordained by Cardinal Adam J. Maida on May 30, 1998.

Then-Fr. Battersby served as associate pastor of St. Thecla Parish in Clinton Township (1998-2000), St. Gerald Parish in Farmington (2000-02), Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in Detroit (2000-02), and Presentation/Our Lady of Victory Parish in Detroit (2000-02). He served as pastor of St. Christopher Parish on Detroit’s west side from 2002-07.

In 2007, Cardinal Maida appointed Fr. Battersby to the faculty of Sacred Heart Major Seminary, where he would minister and teach for the next decade. While serving as director of graduate seminarians and graduate pastoral formation at the seminary, Fr. Battersby also served concurrently as administrator of St. Leo Parish in Detroit.

In 2009, he was assigned to graduate studies at the University of St. Thomas (Angelicum) in Rome. He also earned a Licentiate in Sacred Theology (STL) in the New Evangelization from the Angelicum through its partnership with Sacred Heart Major Seminary.

In 2011, Archbishop Vigneron appointed Fr. Battersby vice rector and dean of seminarian formation at Sacred Heart, a role in which he played a significant part in forming the next generation of priests for the Archdiocese of Detroit and nearly a dozen other dioceses and religious orders. In 2015, he was concurrently appointed pastor of St. Mary of Redford Parish in Detroit.

Just days after the conclusion of the Archdiocese of Detroit’s Synod 16, Pope Francis named Bishop Battersby and fellow Detroit Auxiliary Bishop Robert J. Fisher the 29th and 30th auxiliary bishops in the archdiocese’s history. Along with Bishop Fisher, he was ordained to the episcopacy on Jan. 25, 2017, by Archbishop Vigneron at the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament.

Since serving as an auxiliary bishop, Bishop Battersby has chaired the Archdiocese of Detroit’s Unleash the Gospel Pastoral Council, which is charged with implementing the vision of Synod 16 according to Archbishop Vigneron’s pastoral letter, “Unleash the Gospel.” Bishop Battersby has also served as temporary administrator of St. Anne Parish, Monroe (2018); St. Charles Borromeo Parish, Newport (2018); and St. Perpetua Parish, Waterford (2019).

For most of his episcopacy, Bishop Battersby has served as episcopal moderator for the archdiocese’s South Region, which includes Monroe County and parts of Wayne County outside the city of Detroit. In November 2023, he began serving as moderator of the Northwest Region, which includes Oakland and Lapeer counties.

In addition to Bishop Fisher, who oversees the archdiocese's Northeast Region, Detroit has two other active auxiliary bishops: Bishop Arturo Cepeda (Central) and Bishop Jeffrey M. Monforton (South).

As he looks forward to serving his new flock in Wisconsin, Bishop Battersby said he will always love and be grateful for his hometown of Detroit and its people.

“As the Psalmist said of Jerusalem, I say of my hometown of Detroit and the Archdiocese of Detroit: I love her very stones. I am grateful for the training I received as a man, a priest, and a bishop in her precincts; I am thankful to all of you for your part in forming me,” Bishop Battersby said. “You will remain in my heart. Please keep me in your prayers as I begin this new phase of mission; you know you will be in mine. Know that while I may don the shades of green and yellow, Honolulu Blue will always be my color!

“Wherever He bids us to follow him, let us remember our foundational truths, which gird our understanding and make firm our path: He is Risen, He is Lord, and we are His witnesses.”