WCAB in Cincinnati

In a rare Lord's Day installation, Archbishop Dennis Schnurr's warmup before taking the reins of Cincinatti's half-million-member local church officially begins tomorrow afternoon with the Mass of Welcome for the new coadjutor -- or, as Queen City TV would have it, "adjuticor" -- at his new charge's Cathedral of St Peter in Chains.

Named in October as successor-in-waiting to Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk, the 2.30pm (1930GMT) liturgy marking the arrival of the eventual 10th archbishop will be livestreamed on the archdiocesan site; as no formal installation will take place next year when the native-son incumbent of 26 years, now 74, retires and Schnurr immediately succeeds to the top post, some 15 bishops will be in attendance as the 188 year-old see's 220 parishes have been limited to two tickets each.

Having arrived in Reds Country earlier in the week, the former bishop of Duluth and longtime Captain of the Mothership (read: USCCB general secretary) sat for an interview (fullaudio; opens as mp3) yesterday morning with the locally-based SonRise Morning Show covering, among other things, the national church's newly-approved set of priorities for the coming years, his success at recruiting seminarians in the Minnesota diocese, love of gardening, long history with Pilarczyk (who got the coadjutor of his choice) and even his initial skepticism that a World Youth Day on these shores could successfully replicate the experience of its European predecessors.

Schnurr ran said event -- held at Denver in August 1993 -- and, far from replicating previous WYDs, the result in the Rockies redefined John Paul II's beloved brainchild, securing its place in the ecclesiastical orbit as the global church's "Olympic event."

(To catch the interview, situated at the tail-end of the three-hour program, fast-foward to the 2.37 mark.)

PHOTO: Jeff Swinger/Cincinnati Enquirer

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