For National Vocation Awareness Week Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity interview Bishop Daniel Felton of Duluth, Minnesota. Sister Pam Biehl conducts this conversation.
Vocation is a Latin Word meaning Calling. Bishop Felton explores his own discernment, growing up surrounded by sisters and priests. “Did you think about it as ‘God Calling You?”
For young adults, “The advice that I would give is to first believe that you have a vocation… God has given us a God Mission and a God Purpose in life. We’ve had that from the day we were born and it’s been in the mind of God for all time…. The question is what is God’s Mission for me, what is God’s purpose for me?”
Bishop Daniel J. Felton is the tenth Bishop of Duluth. He attended St. Edward School in Mackville, Wisconsin, and Appleton West in Appleton. He holds a bachelor’s degree from St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wisconsin, in religious studies and psychology; a master’s degree in theology from St. John University, Collegeville; and a licentiate of sacred theology and a master’s degree in social communications from the Gregorian University in Rome. Bishop Felton was ordained a priest on June 13, 1981, by Bishop Aloysius Wycislo for the Green Bay Diocese. His parish assignments in the Diocese of Green Bay included Holy Innocents in Manitowoc, St. Raphael the Archangel in Oshkosh, and St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Manitowoc. Bishop Felton was also the director of affiliate affairs for the Catholic Telecommunications Network of America. At the time of his appointment as Bishop of Duluth in 2021, he had been serving the Green Bay Diocese as Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia since 2014.
Bishop Felton was ordained May 20, 2021, at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Rosary in Duluth. The principal co-consecrator was Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, and his co-consecrators were Bishop David L. Ricken of Green Bay and Bishop Thomas J. Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois. For the 40 years of his priesthood, Bishop Felton’s appointments have always been along a body of water (Lake Winnebago, Lake Michigan, the Fox River, the Green Bay and now Lake Superior). The shores of these waters have provided Bishop Felton with moments of recreation, prayer, and rebirth reflective of the life-giving waters of Jesus Christ. His Motto: Believe in the Good News.
Sr. Pam Biehl, OSF – A Franciscan Sister of Christian Charity, is Program Coordinator for the Collaborative Parish Leadership Project, located at Cardinal Stritch College in Archdiocese of Milwaukee.
Since1869, the Franciscan sisters of Christian Charity followed our Franciscan charism to serve in Catholic Health Care, Education, Campus Ministry and Parish-Community Service throughout the United States. From Missions on Dioceses in Arizona, to the Dioceses of Lincoln and Omaha; from Columbus and Steubenville, to Wisconsin and Michigan. Our newest Sisters in formation have joined us from Wisconsin, Colorado, North Carolina and Texas. Would you like to know more about us? We invite you to visit. Click here.
Article Comments:
Sister Anne Marie Lom 11/05/2022 @ 6:45 pm
Thank you so much, Sister Pam, Bishop Felton, Sister Julie Ann Sheahan, and all who made this interview possible. Being from the same parish as Bishop Daniel, being a friend of Sr. Pam, and loving my vocation as a Franciscan Sister of Christian Charity, I am thrilled to be able to share this with my friends and contacts.
Sister Sharon Paul, O.S.F. 11/06/2022 @ 6:16 am
What a joy that you created the opportunity to visit with Bishop Dan Felton & you, Sr. Pam, on this sacred topic of a vocation & especially a religious vocation. Hearing ones stories of their vocation is a holy encounter & very unique to each individual. May we continue to pray for vocations in all areas. The church & world need good, strong & holy vocations of married, single & religious!