Bishop R. Walker Nickless, National Chaplain

Bishop R. Walker Nickless is the oldest of 10 children born May 28, 1947 in Denver, Colorado to Peggy and Walker Nickless.  He was ordained a priest on August 4, 1973, at Blessed Sacrament Church in Denver, Colorado and spent his entire priestly career in the Archdiocese of Denver.  Prior to his appointment as Bishop of Sioux City, Monsignor Nickless served as Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Denver and pastor of Our Lady of Fatima Parish in Lakewood, Colorado. 

He was also Vicar for Clergy and Seminarians for several years and was nominated as Prelate of Honor (Monsignor) by Saint Pope John Paul II in 1996.

ACADEMIC HISTORY
• 1969 B.A. St. Thomas Theological Seminary, Denver, CO
• 1972 S.T.B. Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome
• 1973 M.A. Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome

Bishop Nickless was appointed the 7th Bishop of the Diocese of Sioux City on November 10, 2005 by His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI. His selection as Bishop was one of the first appointments made by Pope Benedict XVI, following the death of Saint Pope John Paul II. He was ordained and installed as Bishop on January 20, 2006 at the Church of the Nativity in Sioux City. In 2009, Bishop Nickless issued a pastoral letter, Ecclesia Semper Reformanda (The Church is Always in Need of Renewal).


National Clergy Consultant Rev. Siby Punnoose

I am Fr. Siby Punnoose, a priest of the Diocese of Sioux City, Iowa. I am from India but I have been in the Diocese for the past 19 years. I come from a big family of 8 with 5 brothers and 3 sisters and I am # 7 in the family. My parents, brothers and sisters are living in India. I did all my school, college and seminary studies in India. I was ordained a priest in India and worked for three years in southern parts of India.

In the year 2001 I was invited to work in the Diocese of Sioux City, Iowa. I worked 7 years as associate pastor at Holy Spirit Church in Carrol, Iowa. Then I was transferred to Our Lady of Good Council Church, Fonda and St. Columbkille Church in Varina Iowa as Pastor and I worked there for 7 years. At the end of the 7th year I was transferred to Highway 60 Catholic Cluster of St. Patrick Church in Sheldon, St Mary Church in Ashton (where Sherry Nilles, our present National Regent is from) and St. Andrew’s Church Sibley Iowa.

This is the 6th year as Pastor in this cluster. Besides taking care of the pastoral needs of these churches, I also have a grade school up to 8th and a Spanish Community. So far life has been good to me and I can say GOD IS GOOD. I am happy and excited to be the Priest Chaplin for the Catholic Daughters Americas. 2020 has been a difficult year for all of us because of the CORONA virus, Covid 19 pandemic.

Everything seems to be unreal, Facemasks in the church, no shaking hands or greeting, no sign of peace, no holy water available at the entrances of the church, no Precious Blood offered to the people, because of the social distancing limited attendance in our Eucharistic celebrations, no big social gatherings after Mass etc. etc. Even in our public life there are lots of restrictions. We need to wear masks if you visit public places, we need to answer many questions before we enter into a facility. Even though these are in place for our safety and good health, we can very well feel that we are not free as we were before. Why is it this way? And there is no perfect answer. And when is it going to end? And we have no answer.

My prayer for you all during this difficult time is “Take courage, it is I: do not be afraid” which we heard on the 19th Sunday from the Gospel of Matthew.

God bless you all, Fr. Siby Punnoose