Saint Meinrad monk ordained and installed as bishop of Belleville, Ill.

Archbishop Charles C. Thompson ritually lays hands on Bishop-designate Godfrey Mullen on May 1 in the Cathedral of St. Peter in Belleville, Ill., during a Mass in which Bishop-designate Mullen was ordained and installed as the 10th bishop of the Diocese of Belleville. He was previously a monk of Saint Meinrad Archabbey in St. Meinrad. (Photo courtesy of Saint Meinrad Archabbey)

Criterion staff report

Bishop Godfrey Mullen, previously a Benedictine monk of Saint Meinrad Archabbey in St. Meinrad, was ordained and installed as the 10th bishop of the Diocese of Belleville, Ill., on May 1 in the Cathedral of St. Peter in the southern Illinois city.

At the end of the ordination liturgy, Bishop Mullen thanked many people—including family and friends, monks of Saint Meinrad and other religious and the clergy and lay faithful of the Belleville Diocese—and ultimately Pope Leo XIV, who appointed him.

“Today, I give thanks for vocation, for companions on the way and the love I have known from so many,” Bishop Mullen said. “God has always been so generous to me. And, with so many today, let us remember that God loves a cheerful giver. To each and every one of you, thank you. We have good work to do. I love you all and look forward to that good work.”

Bishop Mullen grew up in the Belleville Diocese, his family moving there when he was 9 months old. He began his formation for ordained ministry as a seminarian for the diocese at the former Saint Meinrad College in St. Meinrad, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in history in 1988.

Bishop Mullen was received as a novice of Saint Meinrad Archabbey later that same year, professed temporary vows as a monk on Aug. 6, 1989, and solemn vows on Aug. 15, 1992. Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein ordained Bishop Mullen a priest on June 5, 1994, in the Archabbey Church of Our Lady of Einsiedeln in St. Meinrad.

He is only the third monk in the 172-year history of Saint Meinrad to be appointed as a bishop. He follows Bishop Martin Marty, Saint Meinrad’s first abbot who was appointed a bishop in 1879 and served in the then-Dakota Territory and later as bishop of Saint Cloud, Minn., until his death at 62 in 1896. The second was Archbishop Buechlein, who served as bishop of Memphis, Tenn., from 1987-92, and as archbishop of Indianapolis from 1992-2011.

Bishop Mullen began ministry in the Diocese of Belleville in 2022, serving as the rector of its cathedral and as pastor of Blessed Sacrament and Queen of Peace parishes, all three in Belleville, as well as moderator of the curia and director of the diocese’s office of worship.

In 2025, he was appointed as the diocese’s vicar general shortly before its shepherd at the time, Bishop Michael G. McGovern, was appointed to lead the Archdiocese of Omaha, Neb. Then-Father Godfrey was subsequently elected diocesan administrator by the diocese’s college of consultors. †