WASHINGTON — Pope Francis has named Franciscan Father Fernand "Ferd" Cheri III, a New Orleans native and director of campus ministry at Quincy University (QU), as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of New Orleans.

The appointment was announced Jan. 12 in Washington by Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

"We are blessed to have had Bishop-elect Cheri serve in our diocese as Director of Campus Ministry at Quincy University and he will remain in our prayers for many blessings in his new ministry as auxiliary Bishop of New Orleans," said Bishop Thomas John Paprocki.

Bishop-designate Cheri, who turns 63 on Jan. 28, has a background that includes extensive roles in black Catholic liturgy, music and spirituality, in addition to having served on the Franciscans' provincial council and as their director of friar life.

In addition to his post at QU, he is vicar of Holy Cross Friary, located on campus. He has organized teams of QU students to provide annual cleanup and repairs in his hometown of New Orleans where last year, 50 students made the mission trip. He served as chairman of the Black Catholic Commission in the Office for Social Concerns and Respect for Life at the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois.

"Father Ferd is a giant in black Catholic ministry," said retired educator Leroy Jordan of Springfield, who preceded Bishop-designate Cheri as chairman of the diocesan commission. "I compliment the pope for reaching down into the body of the church in making this selection. The young people of the New Orleans archdiocese will have a ball and see their church expand and grow as I saw with his preaching and welcoming during Masses at Sacred Heart-Griffin High School in Springfield."

"Pope Francis made a wonderful choice in appointing Father Ferd as auxiliary Bishop of New Orleans," said Sister Jane Boos, SSND, director of the diocesan Office for Social Concerns and Respect for Life. "His very presence evangelizes and I know New Orleans will love him as we do."

"A very loving man who always talks to his mother," said Reggie Coleman in his thundering broadcasting voice that all Quincyans recognize. Coleman, a former commission member and currently Catholic Charities board member and close friend of the bishop-designate recalled that during an early meeting between the two for lunch, his telling his mother "I love you" over the phone before they proceeded.

Bishop-designate Cheri is a board member of the National Black Catholic Congress and has been involved in activities including the NBCC gatherings, the U.S. bishops' subcommittee on Black Catholic worship and the National Joint Conference of Black Religious Planning Committee.

Originally ordained as a priest for the Archdiocese of New Orleans on May 20, 1978, he studied at Notre Dame University and at the Institute for Black Catholic Ministry at Xavier University, both in New Orleans.

Bishop-designate Cheri said he never truly left his hometown and was surprised and thrilled that Pope Francis had appointed him as auxiliary bishop in the city where most of his family still lives.

"He will do a marvelous job in his hometown and my hometown," exclaimed James Forstal, of Springfield who has worked extensively with Bishop-elect Cheri on black Catholic ministries at the diocesan and national levels.

"I'm probably the happiest guy in Springfield," Forstal continued. "I called Catholic and non-Catholic friends to tell them what our church has done."

"I'd like to say first of all thank you to Pope Francis for appointing me to this position," Bishop-designate Cheri said during a news conference after his appointment was announced, "It's going to be great to be back in the city."

Bishop-designate Cheri will be ordained bishop at a Mass March 23 at 2 p.m. at St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans.

"He is very gifted in music and preaching and liturgy," Archbishop Gregory Aymond said. "This is also a very significant moment, I think, for us as New Orleans Catholics ... . But also a great gift from the African-American community to the church and to the archdiocese."

As a diocesan priest at four parishes in New Orleans and Marrero, La., Bishop-designate Cheri was involved in ministry in the black Catholic community. It was at that time that he began discernment in becoming a Franciscan.

"A lot of my support at that time was from the religious communities that were primarily staffing parishes in the black community," he said.

"I got used to that. I said, 'Well, if I'm getting support from them, I might as well be a religious.' Being a diocesan priest for me was very lonely. I grew up with a family and bouncing things off of other people. I needed that support. I received a lot of that from the religious communities of New Orleans."

He entered the novitiate for the Order of Friars Minor, in the Sacred Heart Province, based in St. Louis in 1992 and made his solemn profession as a Franciscan two years later. Since then he has served as a chaplain at Hales Franciscan High School in Chicago and as pastor of St. Vincent de Paul Church in Nashville, Tenn.

He also served as a choir director and guidance counselor at Althoff Catholic High School in Belleville, and was part of a contingent that launched St. Benedict the Black Friary in East St. Louis, an outreach to the predominantly African-American city.

According to his biography on the NBCC website, he created youth gospel choirs in several places, began the Black Saints celebrations for the Archdiocese of New Orleans and is convener and facilitator of Go Down Moses Retreats for African American Catholic young men.

Contributing were Scott Mulford who can be contacted at and Peter Finney Jr. in New Orleans.