The formal Rite of Reception and Installation of the Bishop in the Cathedral Church will be held the next day, June 22, beginning at 2 p.m.

Because of limited seating, attendance at both evening prayer and the rite of reception will be by ticket only, said Msgr. Carl Kemme, diocesan administrator. Parishes will receive more detailed information in the coming weeks, he said.

Evening prayer includes song, psalm singing, Scripture reading, and prayer that gives thanks at the end of the day. During this liturgy, Bishop Paprocki will be welcomed by civic leaders, ecumenical and interfaith representatives as well as representatives from the clergy and laypeople of the diocese, and members of men’s and women’s religious communities.

The formal Rite of Reception and Installation takes place within Mass and will begin with a procession into the cathedral church, including an estimated 50 bishops as well as priests and deacons from the Springfield diocese and visiting clergy. Bishop Paprocki will be welcomed and the apostolic letter, a formal document signed by Pope Benedict XVI, will be read and officially presented to the clergy and laypeople of the diocese. Cardinal Francis George will then escort him to the bishop’s chair. By this action, Bishop Paprocki takes possession of the diocese and will preside over the rest of the Mass which follows.

Bishop Paprocki, an auxiliary bishop of the Chicago Archdiocese, was named Springfield’s new bishop on Tuesday, April 20. The announcement was made in Washington, D.C., by the apostolic nuncio to the United States, Archbishop Pietro Sambi. Bishop Paprocki was introduced to the community at a news conference later that morning in the atrium of the Cathedral. He replaces Archbishop George J. Lucas, who was named to head the Archdiocese of Omaha in June 2009.