Msgr. Louis Kihneman is named bishop of Biloxi

The Diocese of Biloxi’s Bishop-designate Louis F. Kihneman, III expresses gratitude for thousands of parishioners in the Diocese of Corpus Christi he has ministered to and whom he calls friends.

Alfredo E. Cardenas, South Texas Catholic 
 

---

On Friday, Dec. 16, Pope Francis named Msgr. Louis F. Kihneman, III as bishop of the Diocese of Biloxi, Mississippi. Bishop-designate Kihneman will be ordained at the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary on Feb. 17. He replaces Bishop Roger Morin who has served as bishop of Biloxi since 2009 and who has reached mandatory retirement age.

“I congratulate Msgr. Kihneman on his call to the Order of Bishops and his appointment as the Bishop of Biloxi,” Bishop Michael Mulvey said.  “I also express my congratulations to the Diocese of Biloxi as the Holy Father Pope Francis has chosen a wonderful pastor as its new bishop.”  

Bishop-designate Kihneman has been a priest of the Diocese of Corpus Christi for almost 40 years, having been ordained on Nov. 18, 1977 at the Corpus Christi Cathedral by Bishop Thomas J. Drury. Presently, he serves the Diocese of Corpus Christi as Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia while also serving as pastor for St. Philip the Apostle Parish.

He said he feels great gratitude to the thousands of people he has ministered in the Diocese of Corpus Christi. “It’s a sense of great love, of growing together in faith. I encourage them to continue. We will still be hand-in-hand spiritually.”

Bishop Mulvey said Msgr. Kihneman served the diocese with distinction in many capacities and has done so with commitment and zeal. 

“Msgr. Kihneman has been a loyal advisor, a conscientious servant and above all a friend,” Bishop Mulvey said.  “He and I have worked closely together and now share a special bond as brother bishops. I will greatly miss his advice and guidance. He will also be missed by his brother priests and the people of this diocese. I wish him many blessings as he begins his ministry in Biloxi and assure him of my friendship and my prayers for him and his new diocese.” 

Msgr. Kihneman was born in Lafayette, Louisiana, and after moving to Corpus Christi in 1963, he attended Corpus Christi Minor Seminary, Del Mar College and the University of St. Thomas and St. Mary’s Seminary in Houston. He received his liberal arts degree in 1974 summa cum laude. He completed a Masters of Religious Education degree in 1976 and a Masters of the Arts in Theology degree in 1977. 

Soon after his ordination he was assigned as parochial vicar to the mission in Arteaga, Mexico. That was followed by appointments at St. Anthony in Robstown and Christ the King and his home parish of Ss. Cyril and Methodius in Corpus Christi. His first assignment as pastor was in 1983 at Our Lady of Guadalupe in Alice, after which he served as pastor at Sacred Heart Parish in Rockport for 18 years, from 1993-2011. He has been pastor of St. Philip the Apostle Parish in Corpus Christi since 2014.

Bishop-designate Kihneman has served in a number of diocesan positions, including Director of Religious Education (1978-83); Director of Vocations (1986-93); Director of Seminarians (1986-93); Director of Ministry to Priests (1986-93); Director of St. John Vianney House of Studies and Christian Leadership Vocations Program (1986-2013); Associate Vicar for Clergy (1988-95); Tribunal Advocate (1983-87); Chancellor (2013-14); and Vicar General (2010-present).

At the request of Bishop Rene Gracida, Pope John Paul II elevated Father Kihneman to the honorary title of Chaplain of His Holiness, which came with the privilege of being addressed as monsignor. Bishop Gracida installed him as monsignor on March 25, 1990.

Over the years, Msgr. Kihneman has served and continues to serve on many diocesan boards. He is currently a member of the Priest Personnel Board, Presbyteral Council, the Diocesan Finance Council, Diocesan Deposit and Loan Board, the Priest Pension Plan Board and is Chair of the Perpetual Benefit Endowment Fund of the Diocese.

He has taught scripture and liturgy in the Diocesan Pastoral Institute and the St. Paul School of Catechesis of the Diocese of Corpus Christi. He has also taught Homiletics in the Permanent Diaconate program of the Diocese of Corpus Christi. He is the 2011 recipient of the NCEA Distinguished Pastor Award in recognition of his outstanding support for Catholic Education.

Bishop-designate Kihneman was baptized at Our Lady of Wisdom Parish in Lafayette, Louisiana. He received First Holy Communion at St. Andrew’s Parish in New Orleans in 1958 and was confirmed at Ss. Cyril and Methodius Parish in Corpus Christi in 1963. On March 26, 1977, he was ordained to the transitional diaconate and later that year was ordained to the priesthood.

The bishop designate is the son of Louis Kihneman, Jr. and Bernadine Kihneman (both deceased). They were natives of Morgan City, Louisiana and raised Msgr. Kihneman along with his brothers, Kenneth (Donna) and David (Hilda), in the Gulf Coast from Clearwater, Florida to Corpus Christi with stops in Pecos, Texas and Calgary, Alberta, Canada in between.

Bishop-designate Kihneman is the sixth bishop from the Diocese of Corpus Christi. Bishop Mariano S. Garriga was born in the Vicariate of Brownsville, which became the Diocese of Corpus Christi, and went on to become the first native Texan to assume the episcopacy in the state. Four other men from the Diocese of Corpus Christi have also been named bishops, including Bishops Raymundo Peña, Michael David Pfeifer, James Tamayo and Daniel Flores.