Jun. 25—DELPHOS — The pastor at the Catholic churches in Delphos and Spencerville will soon oversee an entire diocese in Iowa.

Pope Francis appointed the Rev. Dennis G. Walsh as Bishop of Davenport, Iowa. Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States, publicized the move Tuesday morning.

Walsh, a native of Lima, served as pastor at St. John the Evangelist Church in Delphos since 2015, also working as pastor of St. Patrick Church in Spencerville since 2016.

The people of St. John’s learned about the move Tuesday morning, including Brenda Walsh, who works alongside her brother at the church’s ministry center. He was in Davenport on Tuesday morning for his introduction there, she said.

“It’s still sinking in,” Brenda Walsh said. “We’re so excited for him.”

Their mother, Marilyn Walsh, first heard about it two weeks ago but kept the news under wraps, she said. Their father and the owner of the former Dan’s Barber Shop, Daniel Walsh, died five years ago and “would be so proud right now,” Brenda Walsh said.

The family grew up attending St. Gerard Church in Lima, a Redemptorist parish. The family knew from an early age he was destined to be a priest, she said.

“Since he was 3 years old, I think he’s wanted to be a priest,” Brenda Walsh said. “We had a woods behind our house, and he was always responsible for the church.”

Bishop Daniel E. Thomas of the Diocese of Toledo said in a press release that Walsh was “one of our finest pastors and such a splendid priest” in sharing the news. Thomas said it was the first time the pope chose a priest from the Toledo diocese to become the “Ordinary” of another diocese.

“As a bishop, his fidelity to Christ and His Church, his pastoral and practical wisdom, his administrative and leadership aptitude, his love for the people of God, and his warm and jovial personality will serve him well as he shepherds the local Church of Davenport,” Thomas said. “I have had the pleasure of working closely with Father Walsh for almost 10 years, and have found him to be a spiritually grounded and trusted advisor who lives out his vocation in joyful obedience.”

Bishop-elect Walsh enjoys golf and history, according to a press release from the Diocese of Davenport. He also loves movies and incorporates them into his homilies.

The Diocese of Davenport included 11,438 square miles, with 83,000 Catholics and 74 parishes in an area with a total population of 787,159. Walsh becomes the 10th bishop for that diocese. He will be ordained and installed Sept. 27. The diocese has been led by the Very Rev. Kenneth Kuntz as diocesan administrator since last October, when Thomas Zinkula became archbishop of Dubuque.

Walsh began his priesthood on May 9, 1992, for the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, or the Redemptorists, a clerical missionary community founded in 1732 dedicated to service to the poor and neglected. He served in parishes in Baltimore and the Bronx. He became incardinated as a parish priest in the Diocese of Toledo on July 19, 2000, serving in Sandusky (1998-2002), Defiance (2002-2007) and Toledo (2007-2015) before coming to Delphos and Spencerville.

He also has administrative experience, according to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, 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).

Reach David Trinko at 567-242-0467 or on Twitter @Lima_Trinko.