Editorial

Leadership transitions safeguard the Catholic Church’s mission

Recent stories in The Criterion have announced some significant leadership transitions. Here are some highlights:

After 25 years of dramatic growth and change under the leadership of Daniel J. Elsener, in July of 2027 Marian University in Indianapolis will install a new president, Dr. Kenith Britt.

According to Toby McClamroch, chairman of the Marian University Board of Trustees, “Twenty-five years ago, Marian was fighting for its future. Today, Marian is building the future. Dan Elsener’s extraordinary leadership helped make that transformation possible, and the board has tremendous confidence that Ken Britt is the right leader to carry that momentum forward.”

In July, Justin Reyes assumed the position of chancellor of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, succeeding Christopher Walsh. In this leadership role, Reyes, who has served in several Catholic dioceses (most recently in Joliet, Ill.), will be responsible for assisting Archbishop Charles C. Thompson and his senior leadership team in the implementation of the recently approved archdiocesan pastoral plan.

Reyes will also work closely with the archdiocese’s pastoral leadership and with the leaders of the secretariats of Evangelizing Catechesis, Catholic Charities and Catholic schools. As chancellor, he will also oversee the canonical and archival records of the archdiocese.

In early July, five Sisters of Providence were elected to leadership roles and installed on Sept. 5 in their congregation’s motherhouse on the grounds of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods in western Indiana. The new leadership team includes Providence Sisters Jeanne Hagelskamp, Noreen Wu, Tracey Horan, Anne Therese Falkenstein, and Lisa Stallings.

A native of Indianapolis, Sister Jeanne was elected as general superior, the 19th woman to lead the Sisters of Providence since the community was founded by St. Mother Theodore Guérin, Indiana’s first canonized saint, in 1840.

On Aug. 19, Christopher Haulter made the transition from an upper management position in business to become the new agency director of St. Elizabeth Catholic Charities (SECC) in New Albany. He succeeds Mark Casper, who served as the director at SECC for more than 18 years.

“Being a child of a single mom who was working two, three jobs at a time to put food on the table and keep the lights on in the house,” Haulter said, “I certainly understand the struggle faced by some of our young women and children who seek help from SECC. That’s why the agency’s mission was a big draw for me.”

What do these leadership transitions have in common? They all reflect the Lord’s teaching about the relationship between leadership and service.

Servant leadership demands putting the genuine good and development of others ahead of personal status, control or self-glorification. The leader still exercises authority, makes difficult decisions and pursues clear goals—but he or she does so as a form of responsibility and service rather than as a form of domination.

In a Christian context, Jesus is the supreme model of servant leadership. His humility did not make him weak or passive: He could be firm, defending the vulnerable, confronting wrongdoing and negotiating forcefully. Yet he treated people not as inferiors but as persons of unique dignity, beloved by God and capable of being raised to their full potential.

The main quality that the president of Marian University, the chancellor of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, the general superior of the Sisters of Providence and the agency director of St. Elizabeth Catholic Charities share is a sense of mission that transcends the secular world of higher education, religion and social service. By accepting their important new roles in these organizations, these men and women who are identified as servant leaders acknowledge their dependence on the grace of God and their reliance on the women and men who have gone before them.

Marian University is firmly rooted in the charisms of the Sisters of St. Francis of Oldenburg. The Archdiocese of Indianapolis has been built on the pastoral foundations of dedicated bishops, priests, religious women and men, and faithful lay people throughout central and southern Indiana. The Sisters of Providence constantly renew their distinguished history as missionaries, educators, pastoral leaders and women of prayer. And St. Elizabeth Catholic Charities prides itself on demonstrating in real, practical terms the Church’s commitment to the dignity of all human life.

Let’s celebrate the women and men who serve the Church as servant leaders. May their humility, their passion, their courage and their confidence in God’s grace allow them to build up the people of God, here in central and southern Indiana.

—Daniel Conway