1. Thomas James Olmsted was born on January 21,1947 and is an American prelate of the Catholic Church.
20 Facts About Thomas Olmsted
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Thomas Olmsted served as bishop of the Diocese of Phoenix in Arizona from 2003 to 2022.
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Thomas Olmsted was born on January 21,1947, in Oketo, Kansas, to Pat and Helen Olmsted; he has two brothers and three sisters.
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Thomas Olmsted then studied at St Thomas Aquinas Seminary in Denver, where he obtained a bachelor's degree in philosophy in 1969.
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Thomas Olmsted was ordained to the priesthood on July 2,1973, for the Diocese of Lincoln in Nebraska.
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Thomas Olmsted later became dean of formation and president-rector at the Pontifical College Josephinum in Worthington, Ohio.
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On February 16,1999, Thomas Olmsted was appointed coadjutor bishop of Wichita by Pope John Paul II.
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Thomas Olmsted received his episcopal consecration on April 20,1999, from Bishop Eugene Gerber, with Archbishop James Keleher and Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz serving as co-consecrators, at the Century II Convention Center in Wichita, Kansas.
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Thomas Olmsted selected as his episcopal motto: Jesus Caritas, or "Love of Jesus", the name of his priestly fraternity.
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Thomas Olmsted automatically succeeded Gerber as the seventh bishop of Wichita when John Paul II accepted Gerber's resignation on October 4,2001.
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Thomas Olmsted was installed on December 20,2003, replacing Bishop Thomas O'Brien, who resigned after being arrested for his involvement in a fatal hit-and-run car accident.
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From January 2008 to February 2009, Olmsted served as apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Gallup, acting as that diocese's interim leader until the appointment of Bishop James S Wall.
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In July 2021, in response to Pope Francis' motu proprio Traditionis Custodes, which restricts the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass, Thomas Olmsted issued a decree allowing the TLM to continue in the diocese under his dispensation pursuant to Canon 87 of the Code of Canon Law.
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Early in 2022, one of Thomas Olmsted's pastors resigned after learning he that he had used the incorrect words when performing thousands of baptisms.
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Thomas Olmsted explained the importance of using the correct language in a letter to parishioners and said he believed the error, however inadvertent, required new baptisms.
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In May 2010, Thomas Olmsted declared that Sister Margaret McBride, a member of the ethics committee of St Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix, was automatically excommunicated after permitting a patient to undergo an abortion there.
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Thomas Olmsted accused McBride of permitting a "direct abortion," which according to the Catholic Church is always wrong.
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In 2009, a photograph showing Thomas Olmsted standing alongside of Joe Arpaio in the sheriff's Phoenix tent city jail surfaced, fueling reports that Thomas Olmsted had given Arpaio permission to use the photo in his re-election campaign materials.
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On September 12,2008, Thomas Olmsted released a YouTube video urging Arizona voters to vote for Proposition 102, a referendum to amend the Arizona Constitution to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman.
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On March 8,2010, Thomas Olmsted signed a letter expressing concern over Arizona SB 1070.