Newly installed Tucson bishop to visit Yuma area on Saturday
Just three days after his installation as the new Catholic bishop of the Tucson Diocese, Edward Weisenburger will be in San Luis, Ariz. on Saturday to give a Mass as part of Dia del Campesino, the annual celebration that pays tribute to the area’s farmworkers.
The mass will begin at 5 a.m. at St. Jude Thaddeus Catholic Church, 984 N. Main St., taking place simultaneously with the outdoor festivities taking place as part of the celebration in the city’s downtown.
“We are so happy to be able to have the bishop here for such an important celebration in honor of those who give so much to us and contribute so much to the economy,” said Teresita Kontos, who serves as coordinator of the Diocese’s pastoral program for migrant farmworkers in the Yuma area.
Weisenburger, previously the bishop in Salina, Kansas, was named earlier this year by Pope Francis as bishop of the Tucson Diocese. The fifth largest geographically in the continental United States, the Tucson Diocese takes in Yuma and eight other Arizona counties and serves more than 300,000 Catholic worshippers
Weisenburger succeeds Gerald Kicanas, who retired this year as Tucson bishop. Weisenburger was installed Wednesday in Mass at St. Augustine Cathedral in Tucson.
Kicanas, who served as Tucson bishop beginning in 1995, previously traveled to San Luis each year to give the Mass as part of Dia del Campesino, an annual outdoor event that brings together the area’s social service organizations to provide flu vaccinations, basic health checkups and information and referral services to farmworkers before they head off to the fields to work.
The 23rd annual Dia del Campesino will take place Saturday from 3 to 9 a.m. in parking lot of the former Del Sol Market building, 670 N. Main St., in downtown San Luis.
Kicanas, who retains the title of bishop emeritus, will accompany Weisenburger to the Mass.