Pope Francis Appoints Father Dennis Walsh as Bishop of Davenport

WASHINGTON – Pope Francis has appointed Reverend Dennis G. Walsh, as Bishop of Davenport. Bishop-elect Walsh is a priest of the Diocese of Toledo, and currently serves as pastor of Saint John the Evangelist Church in Delphos, Ohio. The appointment was publicized in Washington, D.C. on June 25, 2024, by Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

The following biographical information for Bishop-elect Walsh was drawn from preliminary materials provided to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops:

Father Walsh was born on July 16, 1965, in Lima, Ohio. He graduated from Saint Alphonsus College in Connecticut with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and a master’s of divinity in theology from Washington Theological College in Washington, D.C. Bishop-elect Walsh entered the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (C.S.s.R), a religious order, on May 9, 1992. He was ordained to the priesthood on May 27, 2000, and incardinated into the Diocese of Toledo on July 19, 2000.

Bishop-elect Walsh’s assignments while he was with the Redemptorist religious order includes: parochial vicar at Saint Michael parish in Baltimore, Maryland (1992-1994) and Immaculate Conception parish in Bronx, New York (1994-1998); and secretariat of finance for the Baltimore Redemptorist Province (1995). His parish assignments after incardination into the Diocese of Toledo includes: associate pastor at Saint Mary parish in Sandusky (1998-2002); pastor at Saint John parish in Defiance (2002-2007); and pastor of Saint Patrick of Heatherdowns parish in Toledo (2007-2015). He has served as pastor of Saint John the Evangelist Church in Delphos, and Saint John the Baptist parish in Landeck since 2015, and he has also served as pastor of Saint Patrick parish in Spencerville since 2016. Father Walsh’s ministry also includes serving as a member of the Catholic Foundation Board (2008-2011, 2017-2019); member of the Diocese of Toledo’s Priests’ Retirement Fund Board (2010-2022); member of the diocesan Presbyteral Council (2015-2022); dean of the Saint Junipero Serra Deanery (2015-2021); trustee of the Diocese of Toledo Health Benefits Trust (2016-2022); trustee of the Diocese of Toledo Property and Casualty Trust (2016-2022); member of the College of Consultors of the Diocese of Toledo (2006-2016, 2017-present); and a member of the Diocesan Catholic Investment Trust Committee (2019-present).

The Diocese of Davenport is comprised of 11,438 square miles in the state of Iowa and has a total population of 787,159 of which 85,437, are Catholic.

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