About the Diocese
1990-Present: Bishop Donald W. Trautman,
Auxiliary Bishop Donald W. Trautman of Buffalo was named by Pope John Paul II June 12, 1990 to be the ninth Bishop of Erie. When Bishop Trautman received his appointment he said, "I came as a successor of the apostles to love and serve the people of the Erie Diocese." He took canonical possession of the diocese July 15, 1990 at an evening prayer service at St. Peter Cathedral in Erie. The following day, he was formally installed as bishop at a Mass at the cathedral. Bishop Trautman was born in Buffalo, New York, June 24, 1936. He studied for the priesthood at the Diocesan Preparatory Seminary in Buffalo and at Our Lady of the Angels Seminary at Niagara University, Niagara Falls, New York. He completed his theological studies under the Jesuits at the University of Innsbruck in Austria. In 1962, he received his licentiate in Sacred Theology. Ordained a priest in Innsbruck on April 7, 1962, he received his first assignment as administrator of St. Frances Cabrini Parish in Collins, New York. Later, he pursued studies for one year at Catholic University in Washington, D.C. Before returning to Europe, he was an associate pastor of Holy Family Parish in Buffalo. Bishop Trautman continued his post-graduate studies at the Pontifical Biblican Institute in Rome where he received his licentiate in Scripture in 1965. In 1966, he earned a doctorate in Sacred Theology from St. Thomas Aquinas University in Rome. During his time in Rome, Bishop Trautman assisted at the Second Vatican Council. From 1966-1973, Bishop Trautman was professor of sacred Scripture and theology at St. John Vianney Seminary, now Christ the King Seminary, East Aurora, New York. Also, he was dean of students and was active as a retreatmaster for religious communities. During that time, he was elected to the Priests' Senate, and served as vice-president and president of the Diocesan Pastoral Council in Buffalo. Before his appointment as diocesan chancellor in 1973, Bishop Trautman was secretary to Bishop Edward Head. In 1974, he was named vicar-general of the diocese. Pope Paul VI named him a prelate of honor with the title of Reverend Monsignor in 1975. Two years later, he was awarded an honorary degree in Humane Letters from Canisius College in Buffalo. In 1986, he received another honorary degree from Niagara University. He has contributed to several periodicals including America and The Bible Today. Pope John Paul II named him Titular Bishop of Sassura and Auxiliary Bishop of Buffalo on February 27, 1985. He was ordained bishop April 16, 1985 at St. Joseph Cathedral in Buffalo. On May 15, 1985, Bishop Head appointed Bishop Trautman as pastor of Ss. Peter and Paul Parish in Williamsville, New York while he continued as vicar-general. Shortly before his appointment to the Erie Diocese, he had been named rector of Christ the King Seminary, East Aurora, New York. At this time, he also served as national episcopal moderator for the Diocesan Fiscal Management Conference. In 1989, Bishop Trautman was named to a three-year term on the United State Catholic Conference of Bishops (USCCB) Committee of Communications. He was also a member of the organization’s Doctrine Committee. In July, 1990, after his arrival in the Diocese of Erie, Bishop Trautman conducted a whirlwind tour of the 10,000 square no hyphen miles of its varied terrain. He held meetings with the clergy of every deanery in the diocese and visited most of the parishes and missions on his confirmation schedule. He is an energetic and concerned "good shepherd." Indeed, in the very first year of his episcopate, he realigned some of the offices and deaneries in the administration of the diocese, established a diocesan Deposit and Loan Fund to place the diocese in a more sound financial position, proposed a new salary scale for clergy with the aid and advice of the Presbyteral Council and completed the Bishop Michael J. Murphy Retirement Home for retired clergy. In addition, during these early years, Bishop Trautman energized the youth programs in the diocese with the establishment of annual rallies throughout the diocese and inaugurated the "Called by Name" vocation effort jointly sponsored by Serra International and the USCCB. On April 26, 1991, he ordained six young men to the priesthood. Soon, thereafter, he revived the permanent deacon program, which now has over 50 men serving in parishes and agencies across the diocese. He has taken his responsibilities to teach, shepherd and sanctify very seriously, providing a strong foundation for his people in a time of complexity deeply influenced by technological growth. The project that consumed much of Bishop Trautman's attention for the first two and a half years of his tenure in the Erie Diocese was the renovation of the interior of the cathedral and the celebration of its centennial. The restoration was completed in the summer of 1993. Subsequently, the centennial of the mother church of the diocese was celebrated on May 17, 1993 with Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua of Philadelphia as the main celebrant and John Cardinal O'Connor of New York as the homilist. At the fall meeting of the American bishops in November 1993, Bishop Trautman received national and international attention when he was appointed chairman of the Bishops' Liturgy Committee. He had just returned from Rome after making his first ad limina visit as the bishop of Erie with other bishops from Pennsylvania and New Jersey. He made two subsequent trips to Rome with other Scripture scholars to discuss "inclusive language" in Scripture and the Liturgy with officials in the Vatican. On August 15, 1993 the energetic Bishop of Erie attended World Youth Day in Denver, Colorado with a large delegation of young people from the diocese who were impressed by the words and actions of Pope John Paul II. In December, 1993, the first Sunday of Advent, Bishop Trautman issued a pastoral letter on the Eucharist. During the tenure of Bishop Trautman, new churches have been built in Harborcreek, Warren, Edinboro, Waterford and Grove City. He ended the 130-year era of newspaper publication, introducing Faith magazine and the bi-weekly FaithLife news bulletin in 2005. Bishop Trautman brought the multi-year Why Catholic? program to the Erie Diocese to enrich parish life, and presided over the 150th anniversary of the Erie Diocese in 2003. He has been committed to ecumenical outreach, and to meeting the needs of all areas of the Erie Diocese, from the inner city to rural mountain towns. The diocese of Erie has been blessed with nine bishops who have shown extraordinary zeal for the spiritual and temporal welfare of their flock in the thirteen counties of northwestern Pennsylvania. Bishops Michael O'Connor, Josue M. Young and Tobias Mullen essentially were the nineteenth century planters of the seed of Catholicism in this part of Pennsylvania. Bishop John E. Fitzmaurice who presided in the first decades of the twentieth century experienced the flowering of much of the seed that had been planted by his nineteenth century predecessors. But the full flowering was achieved during the forty-six year episcopate of Archbishop John Mark Gannon. It was a golden era in the history of Catholicism not only in the diocese of Erie but in most other sections of the United States. His successors Bishop John F. Whealon, who later became the Archbishop of Hartford, Bishop Alfred M. Watson and Bishop Michael J. Murphy had to contend with the rather volatile period that was inaugurated by the teachings of Vatican II. Bishop Donald Trautman has continued this work, striving to nurture the family of god in northwest Pennsylvania during his tenure. If you're interested in learning more about the history of the Diocese of Erie, the following resources by Rev. Robert G. Barcio, Phd. are available:
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