The bishop of Knoxville has a message for those who live and serve in the rural areas of the United States: “You are important!” 

Bishop Mark Beckman was ordained the fourth bishop of the Diocese of Knoxville on July 26, 2024. Nicknamed the “Bishop of the Mountains,” he is no stranger to the rural areas in the United States or to Glenmary’s work there. Three of Glenmary’s missions (Grainger, Unicoi, and Union Counties) and the volunteer program at Joppa Mountain are located within his eastern Tennessee diocese.

Assistant Editor Omar Cabrera spoke with the newly ordained bishop to discuss Glenmary, the Church’s mission, and his growing diocese.

What is your general assessment of missionary religious communities like Glenmary, which bring the presence of Jesus and the Church to small towns and rural areas of the United States?

I think it’s so important because the Catholic Church always has about it a missionary dimension. We’re called to live and proclaim the good news of Jesus everywhere we go. In the rural South, especially, there are in fact many areas that have not yet experienced the witness of a vibrant Catholic community. I think the role that Glenmary plays in bringing that presence to rural areas in the South is so important, and especially here in the Diocese of Knoxville.

Did you know about Glenmary before becoming bishop of Knoxville?

My first awareness, probably real awareness of Glenmary, goes back all the way to early priesthood. I had a former classmate who went to college with me at St. Ambrose in Davenport, Iowa, and was a Glenmary lay missioner with his wife. The two of them did mission work here in East Tennessee. In fact, I’m trying to remember where they were located, maybe near Maryville or someplace like that. I went to visit them and have a meal with them and spent the night with them. They were engaged in that work, and so they talked to me about how Glenmary reaches out to those areas where the Catholic Church hasn’t been established yet.

After that, I got to know several of the Glenmary priests that had been active in the Diocese of Nashville, and even up in Kentucky, Father Frank Ruff, I think, one of the key priests, and heard about their work. I’m also aware that in the Diocese of Nashville, Glenmary did start parishes in counties that had never had Catholic churches, and then those became affiliated with the diocese when they grew large enough to sustain themselves.

How do you see this work related to the call that Pope Francis does that we should be a missionary church?

Yes, Pope Francis has been very clear that the Church is called to go outside of herself always. So we don’t stay focused on those who are already within the community, but the Church itself always has to turn outside ourselves and to reach out. I love the emphasis of Pope Francis on reaching out to those on the margins, on the edges. I think that we could say that those who are living in rural areas of the United States, and in the southern US in particular, in a certain way, they are people that are on the edges. Most of our country gets focused on large urban centers. I think it’s important not to forget those beautiful rural areas in our country.

In the US, parishioners are increasing mostly in the South and some parts of the West. Most of these new Catholics, if not almost all of them, are Latinos. Is God telling us something with this trend, Bishop?

I’ve been speaking with priests throughout the Diocese of Knoxville since I’ve been here, and one of the things I’ve asked the priests is, “What do you love most about the Diocese of Knoxville?” One of the common themes that I’ve heard over and over is, because this is a young church, only established since 1988, there is a lot of energy in this diocese and a lot of new Catholics. That has come up many times, how many new people are joining the church, for example, through the RCIA process.

I do think that being aware that we have many newcomers to our land from Latin America, Spanish-speaking, is very important and that we as Church, because most of those come from a Catholic background, must be present and assist their total growth in the life of faith. And that’s with worship, it’s education, formation, and, of course, all the human needs.

I think it’s very important that we acknowledge that these are big demographic shifts that are happening and that we are prepared to respond.

So, it’s a new diocese with a lot of new Catholics.

Yeah, it’s very new. It’s a new church, one of the newest in the US. And because of that, it has a vibrant life. When I went to my first deanery Mass in Morristown and walked into the church, I would say 80% of the people looked to me like they were Spanish-speaking. And we had an interpreter there, and they translated the homily. I was so grateful for that.

Would you like to send a message to the Catholics, and in general, to the people who live in the Glenmary mission areas?

Yes. You are important! You belong to this great, beautiful human family that God has created. And God’s desire, I think, ultimately, is that we all someday share a banquet feast together in the kingdom of God. 

So it’s important that we belong together, that we work together, and that we try to build in this world a foretaste of the heavenly banquet, where all are welcome at the table and all can share their gifts and all help one another.

I think that imagery from St. Paul the Apostle, that we’re all part of one body and that all of us have been given gifts and that we’re all invited to share those gifts for the sake of the common good is so important. That’s Catholic and non-Catholic alike. It’s everyone. It includes everybody.

It’s very important that we reach out to everyone. Because even persons who are not yet affiliated, and that’s a growing population in the United States, everyone is searching for meaning and purpose in life. I believe we have something precious to offer in that search, so to help people to connect the yearnings of their heart with what we have discovered in Christ—that’s the great opportunity.

Omar Cabrera is Glenmary’s Manager of Spanish Communications.

This article first appeared in the Winter 2024 issue of Glenmary Challenge.