Bishop-designate Richard B. Higgins, a priest of the diocese and an Air Force chaplain for the past 30 years, says he’ll have to “get smart quick” about the Army, Navy, Marines and Coast Guard in his new role as an auxiliary bishop of the U.S. Catholic Archdiocese for the Military.

Bishop-designate Higgins, 60, and Msgr. Joseph W. Estabrook, a priest of the Diocese of Albany, N.Y., will be ordained to the episcopate July 3 at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C.

Sacramento Bishop William K. Weigand will be a co-consecrator at the ordination with Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien, the head of the military archdiocese.

Bishop-designate Higgins has served since 2000 as chaplain at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., where he celebrated a retirement ceremony on June 18. He will move to Washington and begin his new assignment on Sept. 15.

In an interview with The Herald, said he was “completely surprised” by his appointment.

“I had planned on retiring in Colorado Springs and was signing a contract for a house,” he said. “I’m sure the good Lord had a great laugh on that one.”

He added: “The really neat thing about this appointment is that I get to stay connected to our military. When you’ve spent 30 years of your life as part of the military family, it’s tough to let go. So, now I won’t have to do that, and I get to work with some marvelous people dedicated to caring for our military personnel and their families.”

Eishop-designate was ordained in 1968 for the Diocese of Sacramento.

He was an associate pastor at St. Rose of Lima Parish in Roseville and St. Patrick Parish in Grass Valley before becoming an Air Force chaplain in 1974.

He has served abroad in Iceland, Germany and in the Pacific, and at Air Force bases in several states.

The military archdiocese is responsible for the pastoral care of more than 1.4 million Catholics, including 375,000 people in uniform and more than 900,000 family members of active-duty personnel; 300,000 Catholics in the Reserve and Coast Guard; and those serving in government service overseas or in hospitals operated by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Bishop-designate Higgins said some of his responsibilities as auxiliary bishop will include “pastoral visits to our installations and celebrating the sacrament of confirmation with our troops and their families.”

He said throughout his priesthood and as a chaplain he has learned that “people are wonderful, no matter where you are assigned.”

“They want you to care, to believe, to trust, to hope, to celebrate,” he said. “They want to belong. Facilitate that and they will love you and esteem you. Sometimes you wonder why you are at a particular assignment, but God knows what He is about and you are there for a reason.”

The rewards of being an Air Force chaplain have included “belonging to a marvelous family of generous, dedicated, honorable, hard working, patriotic people,” he said.

One of the difficulties, he added, is that military members are “always on the go.”

“As much as 40 percent of my community can move every summer,” he said. “That can be a very frustrating experience. Your key parish leadership can disappear overnight.”

The recent abuse of Iraqi prisoners of war underlines the need for military chaplains to help form members of the armed forces in moral and ethical decision-making, according to Bishop-designate Higgins.

“I have spent my entire priesthood encouraging people to always do the right thing, to respect people of all faiths, to uphold the dignity of the human person,” he said. “To discover some of our military members were engaging in these horrific acts is tough to accept.

“Military members have a responsibility not to obey unlawful orders, but that’s tough to do in all circumstances,” he added. “It’s a real test of character, and we need to do a better job of training and educating our military on the laws of armed conflict.”

Bishop Weigand told The Herald that Bishop-designate Higgins is the first priest of the diocese to be elevated to the rank of bishop in more than 100 years.

He said the diocese can be pleased to know that the new bishop began his ministry in northern California. “He has journeyed far in Christ, always with the blessings and prayerful support of his diocese,” Bishop Weigand said.

Bishop Weigand will join Bishop-designate Higgins when he returns to the diocese to preside at a Mass on Sunday, Oct. 31 at 5:30 p.m. in St. Rose of Lima Church. A reception will follow the Mass.

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