Most Reverend Thomas J. Olmsted

Bishop Olmsted's Biography

Most Reverend Thomas J. Olmsted was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Lincoln, Neb., July 2, 1973. He was installed as the Bishop of the Diocese of Phoenix December 20, 2003. Prior to his arrival in Phoenix he served as Bishop of Wichita, Kansas, after being ordained Coadjutor Bishop on April 20, 1999. Before serving in Wichita, he served as the Rector / President of the Pontifical College Josephinum, a Catholic Seminary in Columbus, Ohio.

Since 1974, Bishop Olmsted has been a member of the Jesus Caritas fraternity of priests, and thus has been deeply influenced by the witness and wisdom of Charles de Foucauld and by the prayers and encouragement of many brother priests.

For 16 years, Bishop Olmsted lived in Rome, Italy, where he obtained a master’s degree in theology, a doctorate in Canon Law, and worked more than nine years in the Secretariat of State of the Holy See. During the nine years of serving in the Holy See, he resided at the Pontifical North American College and assisted seminarians with spiritual direction.

Having been reared on a family farm on the Kansas-Nebraska border, he attended a single-room grade school near Oketo, Kansas, and a small rural high school in Summerfield, Kansas. His first contact with Catholic schools came when he entered St. Thomas Seminary College in Denver, Colo., from which he graduated in 1969 with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy.

• Born: January 21, 1947
• Ordination to the priesthood: July 2, 1973
• Ordained a bishop: April 20, 1999
• 1973-1976: First assignment as a priest: associate pastor, Cathedral of the Risen Christ, Lincoln, Nebraska
• 1976-1979: Doctoral Studies at the Gregorian University, Rome
• 1979-1988: Assistant at the Secretariat of State of the Holy See, and assistant spiritual director at Pontifical North American College, Rome
• 1989-1993: Pastor, St. Vincent de Paul Parish, Seward, Nebraska
• 1993-1997: Dean of Personal Formation at the Pontifical College Josephinum, Columbus, Ohio
• 1997-1999: Rector/President of the Pontifical College Josephinum
• 1999-2001: Coadjutor Bishop of the Diocese of Wichita, Kansas
• 2001-2003: Bishop of the Diocese of Wichita, Kansas
• U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ committees: Priestly Formation, 1999-2007; Consecrated Life, 2000-2003; Administrative Committee, 2002-2003
• 2000-2003: Board of Directors, Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc.
• 2003 - present: Bishop of the Diocese of Phoenix
• 2005-2007: Chair of USCCB Committee on Priestly Formation
• 2005-2008: Member, USCCB National Advisory Council
• 2008-2009: Apostolic Administrator of Diocese of Gallup
• 2008-2011: Member, USCCB Committee on Ecumenical and Inter-Religious Affairs
• 2009-Present: Member, Catholic Association of Latino Leaders
• 2010-2011: Member, USCCB Missions Committee
• 2011-Present: First Vice-Chairman, Vox Clara Committee
• 2011-Present: Board of Directors, Spitzer Center for Ethical Leadership
• 2011-Present: Board of Trustees, Saint John Vianney Theological Seminary
• 2011-Present: Board of Directors, Courage
• 2011-Present: Episcopal Advisory Board, Augustine Institute, Denver
• 2011-Present: Board Member, Catholic Association of Latino Leaders
• November 2011 - Episcopal Advisor to the USCCB Secular Institutes
• November 2011 - Ad Hoc Committee on Religious Liberty

Exploring Bishop Olmsted's Coat of Arms

The following is the description in Heraldic Terms of Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted's Coat of Arms, designed and written by Deacon Paul J. Sullivan:

Blazon. Arms impaled.

Dexter: Azure, issuant from a mountain Argent, a phoenix, or, the flames Gules; in chief a cross formy fitchée of the last.

Sinister: Argent, a pale Gules, charged with a heart and cross of the Jesus Caritas Fraternity of the first; on a chief Azure a star of the first.

Significance

The Episcopal heraldic achievement, or, as it is more commonly known, the bishop's coat of arms, is composed of a shield with its charges (symbols) and the external ornaments. The shield, which is the central and most important feature of any heraldic device, is described (blazoned) in 12th century terms that are archaic to our modern language and this description is presented as if being given by the bearer with the shield being worn on the arm. Thus, where it applies, the term "dexter" (right) and "sinister" (left) are reversed as the device is viewed from the front.

By heraldic tradition, the arms of the bishop of a diocese, called the "Ordinary," are joined to the arms of his jurisdiction, seen in the "dexter impalement" (left side of the shield); in this case, the Diocese of Phoenix.

These arms are composed of a blue field on which is placed a silver (white) mountain to represent Camelback Mountain, a significant aspect of the backdrop of the See City. Arising from the mountain as a gold (yellow) bird that is coming forth from red flames to represent the mythological phoenix, that arose from the ashes, and for which the See City of Phoenix is named. Above the phoenix is a gold cross formy fitchée (three arms of a cross and one resembling a spike), which is taken from the arms of the Diocese of Tucson to signify that it was from the territory of Tucson that the Diocese of Phoenix was carved in 1969.

For his personal arms, Bishop Olmsted has retained the design that was adopted at the time he was selected to be Coadjutor Bishop of Wichita and which he used during his tenure as Bishop of Wichita. The design reflects His Excellency's life as a priest and as a bishop.

The design is based on the arms of the Diocese of Lincoln, Neb., the Bishop's home diocese, and the design is in the national colors of red, white and blue to honor our nation's 16th President, Abraham Lincoln, for whom the city is named.

In the lower part of the design, the silver field is divided by a red pillar, known as a "pale," and this pale is charged with the stylized heart and cross of the Jesus Caritas Fraternity.

The fraternity is a form of school of spirituality for clergy and laity that promotes the ideals expressed in the bishop's episcopal motto, namely that it is in, for and through the "Love of Jesus" that the world is redeemed and humanity is made one again with God.

The white portions on either side of the red pale represent the disciples, sent in pairs by Jesus, to proclaim the Gospel of Life. This also recalls that Bishop Olmsted's name, Thomas, means "twin." The upper portion of the design contains a silver (white) star on a blue field to honor the Blessed Virgin Mary.

As mentioned, for his motto, Bishop Olmsted uses the phrase Jesus Caritas. This phrase, which is the title and name of his ecclesial fraternity, expresses his intention, throughout his ministry as a shepherd of God's fold, to be guided personally by the "Love of Jesus" and to help others to know and to rejoice in that love.

The devise is completed with the external ornaments which are a gold processional cross, which is placed in back of the shield and which extends above and below the shield, and a pontifical hat, called a "gallero," with its six tassels, in three rows, on either side of the shield, all in green. These are the heraldic insignia of a prelate of the rank of bishop by instruction of The Holy See of March 31, 1969.

- Deacon Paul J. Sullivan

Contact Bishop Olmsted

Bishop Olmsted and the Diocese of Phoenix can be reached a variety of ways. If you have questions or comments, please feel free to call and talk to us, or drop us a letter or an email.

By Phone
602-257-0030 (voice)
602-354-2427 (FAX)

By e-mail
Contact-Us@diocesephoenix.org

By mail
Diocese of Phoenix
400 East Monroe Street
Phoenix, Arizona 85004-2336