Rio Grande Diocese Elects Michael Louis Vono as Ninth Bishop
By Janet Kawamoto
[Episcopal News Service]
The
Rev. Dr. Michael Louis Vono was elected
April 24 as ninth bishop of the
Episcopal Diocese of the Rio Grande.
Vono, 61, rector of St. Paul's Within the Walls, Rome, Italy,
was
elected on the third ballot out
of a field of six nominees. He
received 150 votes of 189 cast
in the lay order and 69 of 86 cast in
the clergy order. An election
on that ballot required 106 in the lay
order and 64 in the clergy
order.
The election was held in the
context of worship during a special
election convention at the
Cathedral of St. John in Albuquerque,
New
Mexico.
Vono will succeed Jeffrey
Steenson, who announced in September 2007
that he was leaving the
Episcopal Church to join the Roman Catholic
Church. The Rt. Rev. William C.
Frey, retired bishop of the Diocese of
Colorado, has been serving Rio Grande as assisting bishop.
Vono has been rector of St. Paul's Within the
Walls since 1992. During
his tenure there, he also
served for six years – three as president –
on the council of advice to the
bishop of the Convocation of Episcopal
Churches in Europe
and has been active in ecumenical and interfaith
work. He was for 12 years
president of the Anglo-American Medical
Assistance Fund of Rome.
Previously he served in the
Diocese of Western Massachusetts as rector
of Christ
Church, Rochdale,
and curate at All Saints Church,
Worcester. For the diocese, he was a
congregational development
consultant; a leader in
ecumenical and interfaith work, including
organizing a major social
services outreach program; chair of the
diocesan stewardship committee;
and dean of the Central and West
Worcester Deanery.
He has taught at Catholic
University of America, St. John's
College
High School and Agnes Greg School, all in Washington,
D.C. He is the
author of numerous articles for
various publications, including The
Living Church, Paulus magazine and
Anglican-Episcopal World.
Vono was born in Providence, Rhode
Island, on September 15, 1948. He
holds a bachelor of arts degree
from Our Lady of Providence Seminary,
Warwick, Rhode Island; a master of arts degree in religious
and
theological studies from the
Catholic University of America in
Washington, D.C.;
a certificate in Anglican Studies from Virginia
Theological Seminary in Alexandria; and a doctor
of ministry degree
from Hartford
Seminary in Hartford, Connecticut. He was ordained to
the diaconate in June 1976 and
to the priesthood in February 1977.
The consecration of the ninth
bishop of the Diocese of Rio Grande is
expected to take place Oct. 22
during the diocesan convention in
Albuquerque, pending consent from a majority of
bishops with
jurisdiction and standing
committees of the 109 dioceses of the
Episcopal Church. The bishop
will be seated at the Cathedral of
St.John the following Sunday.
The other nominees were:
--the Rev. Ellis Tucker
Bowerfind, 51, rector, St. Luke's Episcopal
Church, Alexandria,
Virginia (Diocese of Virginia);
--the Rev. Leander S. Harding,
61, associate professor of pastoral
theology and the dean of church
relations and seminary advancement at
Trinity School
for Ministry in Ambridge, Pennsylvania;
--the Rev. James Harlan, 43,
rector, Church of the Ascension, Denver,
Colorado (Diocese of Colorado);
--the Rev. Jedediah D. Holdorph
II, 51, rector of St. Mark's Church,
Medford, Oregon
(Diocese of Oregon);
--the Rev. John Nieman, 50,
rector, Holy Trinity Church,
Clemson,
South
Carolina (Diocese
of Upper South Carolina).