Sioux City, Iowa, Jan 22, 2006 / 22:00 pm
On Friday, at Sioux City, Iowa’s Church of the Nativity, Denver’s Monsignor Walker Nickless was ordained as the first bishop to be appointed by Pope Benedict XVI, filling a two year void, in Sioux City and becoming the Diocese’s 7th Bishop.
Bishop Nickless, who comes to Iowa from the Archdiocese of Denver, told the crowd--with tears in his eyes--that "I hope you will forgive me if I do not find all the right words to tell you what is in my heart. I have never been received more warmly, and your generous gift means so much to me. . . . For me, serving the people of this diocese is a gift, a privilege, and I pledge my life to that."
According to the Des Moines Register, Monsignor Tom Fryar, the Archdiocese of Denver’s vicar for clergy called Nickless "the cream of the crop…He is a learned man with excellent skills."
58-year old Bishop Nickless held Msgr. Fryar’s position for 13 years.