Bernard Edward "Ned" Shlesinger III (born December 17, 1960) is an American prelate of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. He was appointed as an auxiliary bishop of the

Archdiocese of Atlanta In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associ ...

in Georgia in 2017.

Biography

Early life

Bernard Shlesinger III was born on December 17, 1960, in Washington, D.C. to Bernard E. “Bill” Shlesinger Jr. and Rita Belmont Shlesinger. Bill Shlesinger was an inventor and attorney. Bernard Shlesinger has two brothers and three sisters. Shlesinger attended

Mount Vernon High School Mount Vernon High School could refer to: * Mount Vernon High School (Arkansas) — Mount Vernon, Arkansas *Mount Vernon High School (Illinois) — Mount Vernon, Illinois * Mount Vernon High School (Fortville, Indiana) *Mount Vernon High Sch ...

in Alexandria, Virginia, then entered

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also ...

Blacksburg, Virginia Blacksburg is an incorporated town in Montgomery County, Virginia, United States, with a population of 44,826 at the 2020 census. Blacksburg, as well as the surrounding county, is dominated economically and demographically by the presence of ...

, with plans to become a farmer. While at Virginia Tech, he started pilot training through the college. After receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in

agricultural engineering Agricultural engineering, also known as agricultural and biosystems engineering, is the field of study and application of engineering science and designs principles for agriculture purposes, combining the various disciplines of mechanical, civil ...

in 1983, Shlesinger entered the

US Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...

as a commissioned officer. As a pilot, he flew

Lockheed C-130E Hercules The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 was originally desig ...

air transport planes out of

Pope Field Pope Field is a U.S. military facility located 12 miles (19 km) northwest of the central business district of Fayetteville, in Cumberland County, North Carolina, United States.. Federal Aviation Administration. effective 15 November 2012 ...

in Fayetteville, North Carolina. While in the Air Force, he started serving as a

catechist Catechesis (; from Greek: , "instruction by word of mouth", generally "instruction") is basic Christian religious education of children and adults, often from a catechism book. It started as education of converts to Christianity, but as the ...

for Reverend Richard Higgins, then a military chaplain. In 1990, Shlesinger retired from the Air Force with the rank of captain and started studying for the priesthood. He first studied philosophy at the Theological College of

Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Roman Catholic research university in Washington, D.C. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution of higher education founded by U. ...

in Washington, D.C. Shlesinger then went to Rome reside at the

Pontifical North American College The Pontifical North American College (NAC) is a Roman Catholic educational institution in Rome, Italy, that prepares seminarians to become priests in the United States and elsewhere. The NAC also provides a residence for priests who are pur ...

. Shlesinger was awarded a

Bachelor of Theology The Bachelor of Theology degree (BTh, ThB, or BTheol) is a three- to five-year undergraduate degree in theological disciplines and is typically pursued by those seeking ordination for ministry in a church, denomination, or parachurch organization. ...

degree from the

Pontifical Gregorian University The Pontifical Gregorian University ( it, Pontificia Università Gregoriana; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana,) is a higher education ecclesiastical school (pontifical university) located in Rome, Italy. The Gregorian originated as ...

in Rome in 1995. He then studied for a

Licentiate in Sacred Theology Licentiate in Sacred Theology ( la, Sacrae Theologiae Licentiatus; abbreviated STL) is the second of three ecclesiastical degrees in theology (the first being the Baccalaureate in Sacred Theology and the third being the Doctorate in Sacred Theolo ...

from the

Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas A pontifical ( la, pontificale) is a Christian liturgical book containing the Christian liturgy, liturgies that only a bishop may perform. Among the liturgies are those of the ordinal (liturgy), ordinal for the ordination and consecration of dea ...

in Rome.

Priesthood

After returning to North Carolina, Shlesinger was ordained a priest on June 22, 1996, by Bishop Francis Gossman at St. Mark Church in

Wilmington, North Carolina Wilmington is a port city in and the county seat of New Hanover County in coastal southeastern North Carolina, United States. With a population of 115,451 at the 2020 census, it is the eighth most populous city in the state. Wilmington is t ...

, for the

Diocese of Raleigh The Diocese of Raleigh is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church that covers the eastern half of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Arch ...

. After Shlesinger's ordination, the diocese assigned him that same year as

parochial vicar A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pref ...

at St. Mary Parish in Wilmington. Two years later, in 1998, the diocese appointed him as pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in

Newton Grove, North Carolina Newton Grove, chartered in 1879, is a town in Sampson County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 569 as of the 2010 census. History The town of Newton Grove was first incorporated in 1879 as the New Town at the Grove, because of th ...

, along with the position of assistant director of vocations for the diocese. In 2007, the diocese moved Shlesinger out of Our Lady of Guadalupe to become the director of vocations and seminarian formation. Between 2010 and 2012, he also served as the diocesan administrator of Maria, Reina de las Americas Parish in

Mount Olive, North Carolina Mount Olive is a town in Duplin County, North Carolina, Duplin and Wayne County, North Carolina, Wayne counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The population was 4,589 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. It is included in the Gold ...

. In 2013, Shlesinger left Raleigh to become director of spiritual formation at

St. Charles Borromeo Seminary Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary is a Roman Catholic seminary in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania that is under the jurisdiction of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. The oldest Catholic institution of higher learning in the Philadelphia region, the school ...

in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania.

Auxiliary Bishop of Atlanta

On May 15, 2017,

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

appointed Shlesinger as auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Atlanta. He was consecrated by Cardinal

Wilton Gregory Wilton Daniel Gregory (born December 7, 1947) is an American prelate of the Catholic Church who is the archbishop of Washington, US. Pope Francis elevated him to the rank of cardinal on November 28, 2020. He is the first African-American cardi ...

at the Cathedral of Christ the King in Atlanta on July 19, 2017, with Bishops

Michael Francis Burbidge Michael Francis Burbidge (born June 16, 1957) is an American prelate of the Catholic Church who has been the bishop of the Diocese of Arlington in Virginia since 2016. He previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Philad ...

and Luis Rafael Zarama Pasqualetto serving as co-consecrators. As an auxiliary bishop, Shlesinger is responsible for Region II of the archdiocese.

Coat of arms

Based on the arms of Shlesinger's home diocese of Raleigh, North Carolina, by reversing the color to be red on silver (white), is a cross of the faith that is composed of eight diamonds ( heraldically called “lozenges”). Upon these lozenges is a gold

escutcheon Escutcheon may refer to: * Escutcheon (heraldry), a shield or shield-shaped emblem, displaying a coat of arms * Escutcheon (furniture), a metal plate that surrounds a keyhole or lock cylinder on a door * (in medicine) the distribution of pubic ha ...

(small shield within the major shield) that is charged with the symbolism of the

Sacred Heart The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus ( la, Cor Jesu Sacratissimum) is one of the most widely practised and well-known Catholic devotions, wherein the heart of Jesus is viewed as a symbol of "God's boundless and passionate love for mankind". This de ...

. To the lower right, base sinister, is a blue “M,” of the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jews, Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Jose ...

, taken from the arms of

Pope John Paul I Pope John Paul I ( la, Ioannes Paulus I}; it, Giovanni Paolo I; born Albino Luciani ; 17 October 1912 – 28 September 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City from 26 August 1978 to his death 33 days later. Hi ...

References

External links

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shlesinger, Bernard 1960 births 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States Living people Pontifical Gregorian University alumni Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas alumni Religious leaders from Washington, D.C. United States Air Force officers Virginia Tech alumni St. Charles Borromeo Seminary faculty Bishops appointed by Pope Francis