Bishop Martin calls for unity in first message to people of the diocese

CHARLOTTE — On the day he was formally installed as the spiritual shepherd of the Diocese of Charlotte, Bishop Michael Martin called on Catholics across western North Carolina to commit individually and to work together as one to build God’s kingdom.

The special installation Mass took place on May 30, the day after Bishop Martin was ordained a bishop at St. Mark Church in Huntersville. He formally assumed leadership of the diocese at St. Patrick Cathedral in Charlotte and celebrated his first Mass as bishop for a congregation that included two bishops and nearly 100 priests from around the diocese who will work with him to spread the Gospel message. Deacons, women religious, and the laity joined Bishop Martin’s family for the moving ceremony and liturgy.

In his homily, Bishop Martin said the beginning of his leadership is an important time to ask Catholics, “Who do you say that the Church is here in Charlotte? That answer has to be united.”
Shortly before 10 a.m. under a sunny blue sky, Bishop Martin climbed the cathedral’s steps to be received at the front door by Atlanta Archbishop Gregory Hartmayer and Father Christopher Roux, the cathedral’s rector. Bishop Martin kissed a crucifix and blessed the priests gathered outside with holy water, then blessed the congregation inside who’d come to experience the historic moment.

Then, Bishop Martin joined a long procession of priests and other church leaders who passed under an elaborate arch of blue, white and yellow flowers framing the cathedral’s double doors. Walking down the center aisle, he smiled and greeted people in the pews on his way to begin his first Mass as bishop. Once on the altar, he formally sat in the marble bishop’s chair, also called the “cathedra,” a tangible symbol of his leadership of the diocese.

Most recently a Conventual Franciscan priest serving in the Archdiocese of Atlanta, Bishop Martin succeeds Bishop Peter Jugis, who retired after 20 years and now serves as bishop emeritus.

Bishop Martin delivered an animated first homily, reflecting on the day’s Gospel reading from Matthew in which Jesus asks His disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” The question had relevance for him, Bishop Martin said, because in recent weeks friends and family asked him what they should call him once he was ordained. He related Christ’s question to what he also asks of everyone.

“It’s important to Him to know we are responding not just as the voice of the crowd but as a person, a child of God, and in particular a believer in relationship with Christ,” he said.

“We need to proclaim, we need to sing, we need to profess with one voice,” he said. “The world is full of many voices, many opinions. The world is full of influencers and people who are driving the message, and if all we do is fall prey to that dynamic…we will falter.

“That’s not the Church you and I have come to love and know. That’s not the Church that was founded on Peter, the Rock. So let us not see ourselves in this camp or another camp, but rather let us continuously ask ourselves: ‘can we find and celebrate that one foundation in Christ?’ That is the key to building the kingdom.”

Bishop Martin said he was honored and eager to walk with his brother priests in leading the Catholic community in western North Carolina.

“I get a chill just thinking about what the Holy Spirit can do in us as we proclaim to our world who Jesus is.”

— Christina Lee Knauss. Photos by Liz Chandler, Patricia L. Guilfoyle and Patrick Schneider Photography