Irish-born Miami auxiliary bishop ordained in joyous ceremony

Published: 2005-09-01

MIAMI (CNS) -- After two and a half hours of sacred ritual and scripted ceremony, Auxiliary Bishop John G. Noonan of Miami had three minutes to address an enthusiastic, standing-room-only crowd of more than 1,100 at Miami's St. Mary Cathedral. He finished in two minutes and began with a quip. "My mother always told me never to wear my hat in church," he said, his miter firmly atop his head. "And now they've given me a stick. So I don't know if I'm going backwards or forwards." It was a fitting -- and some would say "typically Noonan" -- ending to a joyous ceremony featuring about 400 priests, more than a dozen bishops and all the solemnity of 2,000 years of Catholic tradition. Many of Bishop Noonan's cousins and friends traveled from Ireland, Canada and parts of the United States to attend the ordination of Miami's ninth auxiliary bishop, a man they say has not changed since he was a child. "There's something very special about him," said Gemma O'Grady, Bishop Noonan's cousin, who traveled with her daughter, Colette, from Limerick, Ireland.

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