New Milwaukee Archbishop Jeffrey Grob installed Tuesday

MILWAUKEE - The Catholic Church installed the 12th archbishop of Milwaukee on Tuesday afternoon, Jan. 14. Pope Francis appointed Wisconsin native Jeffrey Grob to the post.

"This isn’t about me. I’m number 12, actually. This is about the Church, the traditions that have been passed down through the centuries since the Lord Jesus. I’m a moment, a chapter," the new archbishop told reporters after the installation Mass.

Jeffrey Grob

What we know:

Archbishop Grob's installation Mass was held at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Milwaukee. In attendance were two cardinals, more than 20 bishops, along with seminarians, deacons and priests, as well as city and religious leaders and Milwaukee-area Catholics.

The Pope's representative to the United States, the papal nuncio, Cardinal Christophe Pierre, read Pope Francis' apostolic mandate, which is the official decree appointing Grob to the position. 

After the reading, Archbishop Grob himself processed around the cathedral to show the papal document to the people assembled.

"There’s an excitement. I’m happy. I’m honored," he explained afterward. "God has been so good to me."

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Then, he became the archbishop when he was seated in the official chair of the archbishop, called a "cathedra".

"You want to talk about the transfer of power kind-of-thing, that’s it. You sit in that chair and the sense of the Holy Father, the popes, it’s the seat. The cathedra, that is the seat of power. It’s the order, it’s the tradition," Grob told reporters after the Mass.

Next in the ceremony, archdiocesan, parish and city leaders – like Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson, Police Chief Jeffrey Norman and Fire Chief Aaron Lipski – welcomed the new church leader.

"The Church still has a place at the table, and so how does the Church go out and engage the world?" the new archbishop told reporters. "It doesn’t mean that she compromises herself, I mean she is a deposit of truth, of faith, of morals, of things. It’s not a democracy. Never has been. Because you can’t compromise eternal truths. But how do you translate them to the current moment?"

The backstory:

Grob was born in Wisconsin and raised on a dairy farm in Cross Plains, which is just outside Madison.

"I still see myself as a farm boy from Wisconsin," he said.

In 1992, he was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Chicago. He later earned a doctorate, including in church law, which is called canon law. In Chicago, he also served as an exorcist. In 2020, he was ordained a bishop, and has served as one of Chicago's auxiliary, or assistant, bishops.

By the numbers:

Now, as Milwaukee's archbishop, Grob will lead more than 500,000 Catholics in 10 southeast Wisconsin counties, in 184 parishes. One challenge for the new leader will be decreasing numbers in the pews. Church web resource "Catholic Hierarchy" reports that in 2019 the Archdiocese of Milwaukee had 695,500 parishioners.

"We’re still coming out of the world of Covid and so many different things that were devastating, that were forcing people to bury themselves away," Grob said.

"Now more than ever, it’s about the Church going out to the people."

While the number of parishioners is down, the Archdiocese of Milwaukee in 2024 had the most new priests ordained in more than 30 years. Grob credited his predecessor, Archbishop Jerome Listecki.

Back when Listecki was a seminary professor, one of his students was Grob. Now, he hands over his role to his former student.

Archbishop Listecki sent Pope Francis his resignation letter in March of 2024, when he turned 75, as required by church law. 

Watch full ceremony: Grob installed as archbishop

Protest outside cathedral 

What's next:

The archdiocese held a prayer service Monday evening, the day before the installation. People with a group called Nate's Mission protested outside on behalf of clergy sexual abuse victims.

In his first 100 days of leadership, the group urges Grob to provide abuse-related documents to the Wisconsin Department of Justice, update the Milwaukee archdiocese’s list of restricted priests, and remove anyone from leadership who may have covered up sexual abuse. 

Nate's Mission said the archbishop agreed to meet with them soon.