Bishop Robert Gruss will celebrate Mass for the people of the Diocese of Davenport on Sept. 4 at 3 p.m. in Sacred Heart Cathedral, Davenport.
The Mass will be held five-and-a-half weeks after he is ordained bishop of the Diocese of Rapid City, S.D.
Bishop-designate Gruss currently serves as rector and pastor of Sacred Heart Cathedral, but will be relieved of that assignment July 21 because the Holy Father appointed him bishop of the Rapid City Diocese. His ordination to the episcopacy will be July 28 in Rapid City.
It was his desire after becoming a bishop to celebrate a Mass in the Davenport Diocese, where he has served most of his 17 years of priesthood and where he was ordained a priest, Bishop Martin Amos said.
Bishop-designate Gruss, 56, was ordained to the priesthood on July 2, 1994, by Bishop William Franklin at Sacred Heart Cathedral. In the Davenport Diocese, Bishop-designate Gruss has served as a parochial vicar, pastor, vocations director, chancellor, Propagation of the Faith director, Victim Assistance Program director and rector of Sacred Heart Cathedral. He also served as vice rector of seminary life and director of human formation for the Pontifical North American College in Rome. He was awarded the Chaplain of His Holiness, with the title “Monsignor” in August 2007.
