Pope appoints monk of Saint Meinrad Archabbey as bishop of Belleville, Ill.

VATICAN CITY (OSV News)—Pope Leo XIV has named Benedictine Father Godfrey Mullen, a monk of Saint Meinrad Archabbey in St. Meinrad, as the new bishop of Belleville, Ill.

The Vatican announced the appointment of Bishop-designate Mullen on March 13. The Diocese of Belleville has been without a shepherd since its former bishop, now-Archbishop Michael G. McGovern, was installed as archbishop of Omaha, Neb., in May 2025. Bishop-designate Mullen, 60, is currently the administrator of the Diocese of Belleville.

The diocese issued a statement about the appointment, noting that “with great joy and gratitude” it welcomed the announcement of its new bishop-designate.

Bishop-designate Mullen’s episcopal ordination and installation as Belleville’s 10th bishop is scheduled for May 1.

Wearing his black Benedictine habit, with a pectoral cross over its scapular, he said during a March 13 press conference in Belleville, “My sincere thanks to our brother from Illinois, the Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, for his confidence in calling me to shepherd this beautiful flock.

“I accept this mission in the Church, this service to his people, as God’s plan. … I have accepted many assignments from abbots and bishops under whom I have served and have nearly always grown to love those assignments. I trust that pattern will continue.”

Bishop-designate 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 at the former Saint Meinrad College in St. Meinrad, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in history in 1988.

Bishop-designate 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.

He continued his priestly formation at Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology, earning a master of divinity degree in 1994. Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein ordained Bishop-designate Mullen on June 5, 1994, in the Archabbey Church of Our Lady of Einsiedeln in St. Meinrad.

In 2003, he earned a doctorate in liturgical studies from The Catholic University of America in Washington.

Bishop-designate Mullen previously was a professor of liturgy at Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology and held various administrative offices there.

In 2012, he began ministry in the Diocese of Evansville, Ind., serving as pastor of St. Mary Parish in Huntingburg, Ind., from 2012-13 and as rector of St. Benedict Cathedral in Evansville from 2013-22.

Indianapolis Archbishop Charles C. Thompson noted that Bishop-designate Mullen “evidenced keen administrative skills and a pastoral heart” in his time of ministry in the Evansville Diocese.

“He is a wonderful liturgist, homilist and teacher,” said Archbishop Thompson, who served as bishop of Evansville from 2011-2017. “He is a great choice to be the next bishop of Belleville.”

In the 172-year history of Saint Meinrad Archabbey, Bishop-designate Mullen is the third of its monks 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 then 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.

Benedictine Archabbot Kurt Stasiak said the appointment “reflects his proven competence and obvious dedication to and love for the Church.”

“It is an honor for him and an honor to our monastery,” Archabbot Kurt said, “although, we will miss Father Godfrey’s wonderful spirit and energetic presence among us. He is a person who gives life and energy to whatever group or individual he is with.”

During the press conference, Bishop-designate Mullen thanked his confreres at Saint Meinrad “who have tolerated this extrovert in their midst these past 38 years and taught me the invaluable rhythm of prayer and work.”

Bishop-designate Mullen described how he had learned of his appointment in a phone call from then-apostolic nuncio Cardinal Christoph Pierre on March 6.

When he asked if he needed the permission of the archabbot to accept, he said Cardinal Pierre told him that “your obedience now is to the Holy Father.”

He then recalled how Cardinal Pierre went on to tell him to “continue being a monk. Be a man of prayer, and a man of community. And be a man of caring for the flock of Christ.”

Nonetheless, Bishop-designate Mullen said that later that day he “had a very strong feeling of dread for a couple of hours. And I couldn’t explain that dread, until it hit me that those words meant that on May 1, I am no longer a monk of Saint Meinrad. It will be the first time in 38 years that Saint Meinrad will not be my primary community.”

Bishop-designate Mullen then described a reassuring phone call with Archabbot Kurt the following day.

“I expressed my fear of not being a monk of Saint Meinrad anymore,” he recalled. “And he said, ‘Father Godfrey, while canonically you will not be a monk of Saint Meinrad, in our hearts, you always belong to this community.’ And that was very comforting.”

Bishop-designate Mullen began ministry in the Diocese of Belleville in 2022, serving as the rector of its Cathedral of St. Peter 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 Archbishop McGovern was appointed to lead the Archdiocese of Omaha. Bishop-designate Mullen was then elected diocesan administrator by the diocese’s college of consultors.

In a statement about his appointment, he said that, since he was a child, “I have always been fascinated by the way Christ is present in his wonderful people in southern Illinois. … All my life, I have loved you.”
 

(Criterion reporter Sean Gallagher contributed to this article.) †