50 years in God's service

~ Springfield-Cape Girardeau Catholic Diocese's Bishop John Leibrecht celebrated 50 years in ministry this week.

When John Leibrecht was announced as the new bishop of the Springfield-Cape Girardeau Catholic Diocese in 1984, his old friends were not surprised.

Leibrecht, known as Jack to his classmates, was voted most likely to succeed when he was in seminary, said the Rev. Ralph "Jake" Duffner, who was in school with Leibrecht back in the 1950s.

The students were confident that if anyone would be a bishop), it would be Leibrecht, said Duffner, a priest at St. Ambrose parish in Chaffee, Mo.

Leibrecht graduated from Cardinal Glennon College and Kenrick Seminary and was ordained a priest on March 17, 1956. This week, he celebrated 50 years in ministry with a special Mass at St. Mary Cathedral in Cape Girardeau on Thursday. The 75-year-old bishop is slated to retire this year.

While still a young man in school, Leibrecht was a good student and a serious liturgist, Duffner said. But it was his athletic prowess that Duffner appreciated most.

In high school, when the two young men were both attending Cathedral Latin School in St. Louis, there was an established rivalry between the Irish and the German students on the athletic field.

"Leibrecht always went with the Germans even though his mother was a Fitzgerald," Duffner recalled. "We said, 'Thank goodness you're on our side.'"

Athletics almost led Leibrecht down a different path. He and two friends had planned to attend a Catholic high school where they were sure they could play on the varsity basketball team. Circumstances left only young John still registered at the school before the academic year began.

That is when Leibrecht began thinking about something his fourth-grade teacher had said to him. Sister Jolene had encouraged him to think about going to seminary.

"She was very wise," said Leibrecht, still tall and slim like the young basketball player of his youth.

"She said, 'That doesn't mean you're going to be a priest. It means you might well think about being a priest.'"

He thought about it.

He chose to attend the Latin school, a pre-seminary high school. By the time he graduated from high school, he had decided to go on to study theology and then to seminary.

Life of detours

Leibrecht may have been the top choice of his classmates to become a bishop, but he says he never expected the honor.

"Never, never in my life did I ever think about being asked to serve as a bishop," said Leibrecht.

He planned to be a parish priest like the men who had influenced him at his own parish, All Souls in Overland, Mo.

"That was my ideal," he said.

The young priest began working as an associate pastor at the St. Louis Cathedral, still hoping for his own parish. But after only two years, the bishop told Leibrecht he would be going to the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., to get his doctorate in education.

He was crushed.

"That was a very difficult time," he said.

Years later, he went back to that bishop, Cardinal Joseph Ritter, and thanked him.

Leibrecht worked in education for 20 years, as a high school principal, on staff at the archdiocese's office of education and eventually as superintendent of education.

Then he decided to pursue his original dream of being a simple parish priest. In 1981, he became pastor of Sacred Heart Church in Florissant, Mo.

Only three years later, he received a telephone call that changed his life course, once again.

"I thought, I'm finally back where I want to be, in a parish," Leibrecht remembered. "Then I got a phone call on a Wednesday morning from the Nuncio in Washington, D.C., saying the Holy Father wants you to go to Springfield-Cape Girardeau as bishop."

Leibrecht had heard rumors about who might be sent to the southern diocese, but he was sure there were no rumors about him going.

"When I got that call I was absolutely stunned," he said.

He said yes and hung up the phone.

"I could not get out of that chair, literally," he said. "I thought, 'Glory be to God, my whole life has been changed.'"

Once again, his dream of being a parish priest was derailed. Then a friend told him to think of the job as being a pastor of a very large parish.

Plans to retire

After 50 years in the ministry, Leibrecht expects his retirement to be approved this year. He is excited about what a new bishop will bring.

"Everybody needs a fresh start," he said.

Leibrecht hopes to share with the new bishop his love of the people of the diocese, his dreams of a Catholic Charities office someday opening in the diocese and his pride in the Catholic hospitals and schools that serve the area.

"On the other hand, I don't want to get in the way of the diocese having someone look at it in a fresh way," he said.

Leibrecht plans to retire in Springfield, where he will be a "senior priest in service," available to fill in as needed.

"I will be here strictly to be where I'm needed," he said. "That's what I'm looking forward to."

He will finally be a simple parish priest.

"God has a great sense of humor about timing," said Leibrecht. "I trust the Lord's timing more than I trust my own."

Staff writer Callie Clark Miller contributed to this report.