Chicago native new bishop in Milwaukee

MILWAUKEE -- A Chicago native has been ordained an auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.

Milwaukee Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan ordained and consecrated William P. Callahan at a Mass in the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist on Friday in front of 18 other bishops from the Midwest and beyond.

The 57-year-old grew up in Chicago and was ordained a priest in 1977 by the late Milwaukee Archbishop William E. Cousins.

Callahan was associate pastor at the Basilica of St. Josaphat from 1977 to 1978, was his religious order's vocations director from 1978 to 1984, and was associate pastor and pastor at Holy Family Parish in Peoria from 1984 to 1994.

He again became rector and pastor of St. Josaphat Parish, from 1994 to 2005.

Callahan left the parish in 2005 and was serving as Spiritual Director for the Pontifical North American College, the seminary for Americans, in Rome when he was tapped for bishop.

"The area where I have had some level of success is being a simple parish priest," Callahan said in an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "I love being a parish priest. And so, as much as I can possibly be a resource, a help ... and, most importantly, a brother to priests, I see that as being . . . most significant to whatever duties the archbishop has for me."