An Interview with Bishop-Elect Scott Bullock

The following is a transcript of a video interview between Deacon John Robbins, Archdiocesan Director of Communications, and Bishop-elect Scott Bullock of Rapid City, South Dakota. 

Deacon John Robbins
I'm Deacon John Robbins, the Director of Communications for the Archdiocese of Dubuque. And today, I'm excited to welcome Bishop-elect Scott Bullock. Thank you for joining me today Bishop-elect Bullock.

Bishop-elect Scott Bullock
My pleasure Deacon, it’s good to be with you. ​

The interview continues after the video below.



Deacon John Robbins
The Holy See announced your appointment as the 10th bishop of Rapid City, South Dakota on June 25th and the faithful of the archdiocese collectively celebrated and offered congratulations in many ways to you personally and in response to our communications and social media posts. And at the same time, we were all sorry to learn that you'd be leaving. That morning, the Diocese of Rapid City livestreamed a welcome message in which you introduced yourself to the diocese and answered some questions. I'm interested in starting with you talking about that moment when you got the call from the Nuncio.

So you mentioned that day that His Eminence, Christophe Cardinal Pierre, the nuncio, contacted you ten days before your appointment was announced. What can you share about that moment when you received his phone call and the following days? 

Bishop-elect Scott Bullock
Thanks for the question. It's good to be with you. That was the 15th of June, which would have been the Saturday before Father's Day.

And as many pastors were doing during that same moment, I was getting ready for the Saturday evening Mass in our parish at St. Edward in Waterloo. I had gone down to our parish hall to do some things down there ahead of time, and came back up. I left my phone upstairs and I looked at my phone and the caller ID said I had received a call from the Apostolic Nuncio.

Okay, well, that's kind of alarming to get that one because there's very few reasons he’d be calling me. So, I went to the confessional because it was time for confessions. And then when that was finished, I carried my phone with me to where I usually go before Mass. I walked in front of our church to greet people and the phone went off again at 5:00, fifteen minutes before the Mass, and it was the same caller ID. So I excused myself from my parishioners and went over to a place by myself. And indeed, it was the Apostolic Nuncio, Christophe Cardinal Pierre from Washington.

And he began the call by introducing himself and then said, “Do you have time to speak?” And I said, “Well, sure, I have time to speak, but I must tell you that I have fifteen minutes before Mass.” And so he reacted and said, “Okay, well, we better get to this right away.” And he said these words, “Pope Francis has appointed you as Bishop of Rapid City.” And I was befuddled by that. So I was silent right away, and just kind of thought about it. And the silence went a little longer than the Cardinal probably wanted. And so he said, “Do you know where that is?” And I responded, “Oh, yeah, I'm [familiar].”

And then he followed up with a question, “Well, do you accept?” And I took maybe about five seconds more on that. I said to him a truth that I tried to live my life by, at least in general. I said, “If the Lord and Pope Francis want this, the answer is yes.”

And then he said, “Thank you. That was nice." After that, I went right to the altar because Mass was starting, and some people have said to me since, boy, how did you keep it together? And I said, well, that was exactly where I needed to be, right to the altar to be with Jesus and pour out my heart and thank him, thank him for the ability to serve in this manner.

And he was good to me, as he always is in Mass. So I left with joy. I spent that evening just by myself with Jesus praying, as the Cardinal told me that I could tell no one about the announcement until it became public ten days later. And then he followed that up by saying, "But you can talk to your archbishop in Dubuque." And that was because he had called Archbishop Zinkula asking for my telephone number. But Archbishop didn't know what [my] answer would be. So he was obviously curious about this. And so I was able to connect with the archbishop. The next day, he was in Waterloo for Masses, and he was very gracious to me.

And, I acknowledged the fact that this would be a challenge to lose a priest and all that. And he he was encouraging to me. So, after that, I was pretty much by myself with Archbishop Zinkula knowing about that with a few exceptions until the announcement in Rapid City.

Deacon John Robbins
Thank you for sharing that. You have served in a number of different roles, I believe you said, for almost 40 years in this archdiocese. And so you've been the rector of our college seminary, a judicial vicar in our metropolitan tribunal office, a parish priest, a pastor, and collaborated with our Catholic schools. When you think back on your time here in the archdiocese, what moments have brought you the most joy?

Bishop-elect Scott Bullock
So I'd like to say–and I did say this in the announcement to the priests in Rapid City–in case you're wondering, you are receiving a very happy priest. And I just love being a priest almost always. Lots of beautiful moments of joy. One of the things I said to the priests of the Archdiocese of Dubuque–so I wrote a letter to each of those groups when the announcement was made so that I could personally acknowledge them and introduce myself in the case of Rapid City–I said to my brother priests that they were the ones who gave me the example to respond the way I did when the Apostolic Nuncio called because I have been with the Archdiocese nearly 40 years as a priest, for 33 years after some time in seminary.

And I just watched with amazement so many of my brothers say "yes" to assignments that the archbishops have given them. Sometimes it's clear they wouldn’t prefer that, from the human level. But they went, so that gave me courage. And so, yes, you asked about joyful times. I just watched with joy the way my brother priests have served.

A person asked me recently, "What's the hardest thing about this?" And that's definitely all the beautiful relationships that I've been able to enjoy over these 33 years. Those will be changed. I believe that they can continue, but we know they'll be different because the proximity is so much less.

Otherwise, I've loved every assignment that I've had, you know, in one way or another. It’s a great joy working with future priests. I did quite a bit of that, maybe a dozen years as a rector of our college seminary, maybe 15 or 16 or 17 years as a director of seminarians for our archdiocese. And I really love being around men who are discerning that vocation because they bring a lot of optimism, a lot of joy, a lot of possibility. And, who doesn't want to be around people that are like that? And so that brought me a lot of joy. Too countless the name, I'll say. 

Deacon John Robbins
After talking about the positive experiences and the influences of [others] here in the archdiocese, can you now talk a little bit about the relationship you have with our Blessed Mother?

Bishop-elect Scott Bullock
Sure. Thanks a lot. So, I would say that throughout my priesthood, I've always been fascinated with the saints. I've collected some close friends along the way. It probably began with Teresa of Ávila when I was in seminary. And then others have joined the band of friends along the way, however, in the last, I'd say 4 or 5 years, I've had a real increase in devotion to our Blessed Mother Mary.

And I definitely see her behind a lot of this. And the way that it happened. I believe the Holy Spirit gave me that gift. And I believe that gift was given for a purpose. I didn't really know what it is. I probably still don't know what it is, but I believe it's connected with this new life.

Some signs that I've seen that have made that fairly clear to me, begin with, Our Lady of Perpetual Help. So this is a particular devotion that was shared with the church in the United States and some other places through parish missions, by our generous priests through the decades of the 20th century. And, my mother, my earthly mother, who died eight years ago, had a really deep devotion to Our Lady of Perpetual Help.

I recall one time when I was a priest for a number of years, she asked me about my understanding of devotion, and I said, I really don't know a lot. And she was kind of amazed by that, that her son, the priest didn't know this, because it was very much part of her life. And then when I found out about Rapid City. It turns out that the Cathedral City is Our Lady of Perpetual Help.

And, I just think that she is really, a vivid example of how God wants to help us through her prayers. I could continue, by saying a little bit about that image of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. So many have seen it, and it's very familiar, but the sense of it is, is that we have both the Mother Mary holding the Christ child and showing him the implements, that is, the instruments of His passion – the spear, the crown of thorns that are being shown to him by angels that are carrying those implements. And so, Mary is saying to Jesus essentially, "This is your path. I'm with you in it, and this is the way you're going to save the world." And, for me, that's it. That's really encouraging. 

Maybe about four years ago, I read the autobiography of Pope John Paul II, the part that speaks about his role as a bishop. And he was writing it to encourage other bishops. He titled the book “Rise, Let Us Be On Our Way.” And, it’s a puzzling title for me, because he is just talking about everything that was involved with him becoming a bishop. At the very end of the book, he quotes a verse from the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 26, verse 46, where Jesus meets those in the garden who will betray him.

And he says to his disciples, “Rise, let us be on our way,” “Surgite Eamus” in Latin, which I told you, I chose as my episcopal motto. It is an extremely hope-filled message. The sense is that Jesus is going to go with us. He said, let us be on our way. He's going to go with us to the Cross and the Resurrection.

And as our faith has taught, the Cross is our only hope. That's our only hope. So Our Lady of Perpetual Help is showing Jesus the path, my episcopal motto is going to choose that same confidence. So ,that brings me a lot of joy, knowing that Mother Mary is prompting at my heart behind all these things.

Deacon John Robbins
What beautiful, deep connections run through all of that. That's wonderful. Thank you for sharing that. And I think that's just a beautiful motto to bring into your new Episcopal ministry, but also to that diocese. When I first heard you talk about that on the June 25th Rapid City livestream, and you talked about it in the context of the garden with, the betrayer coming, I had to stop and think a little bit. I’m like, interesting.

So it was an exercise for me to look a little bit deeper. You spoke about the love there, that Jesus has in that moment. And so, I appreciated that as well; the opportunity to reflect on those particular words that I don't think I would have before,  in that beautiful moment.  So thank you for sharing that.

When you think back to your discernment of your call to priestly ordination and then, the continued discernment, what are some key moments or key experiences that come to mind? 

Bishop-elect Scott Bullock
Thank you. So, t's been an exciting experience discerning the Lord's call over the years.

I began to think about priesthood in college, and it certainly wasn't because I wanted to, but there were people who started talking to me about that. At first, it was alarming because I had other plans. And, I say that with joy now, but this is a basic thing with vocational discernment that I have discovered, and many Christians have discovered that finally, we're going to have to– if we're interested–we're going to finally have to stop asking, "Ahat do I want to do?" Instead, ask "Lord, what would you have me do?" And I was not ready for that initially in college. The Holy Spirit mysteriously, called me to the Holy Land–Ames, Iowa–where I went to graduate school. And that's where it really started happening. I had intended to be a graduate student, studying mathematics, actually statistics, and then wanted to teach.

And then, very quickly, the Lord gave me the grace of showing me that was not going to be my path. So lots of prayer, lots of needing to lay down those other dreams. But once the choice was made at Iowa State, a lot of joy and a lot of peace. I can't imagine not having made that choice.

But I needed that struggle to really be confident that the Lord was asking me to do that. So that was really a key moment. And then after that, Deacon John, I was again and again needing to re-choose that with confidence. So each time the archbishop asked me to do another ministry, just going in with that confidence and, I mentioned that when I wrote to the priests of the archdiocese, I said to them that they were the example, that has taught me about being quick to say "yes" when the Lord asks. I just think of all these incredible priests that I worked with over and over again saying, "Yes, I will do that." And, that's really because they're used to–and they taught me to say–"Jesus-what do you want?" And, to the best of our ability to be able to just say "yes" and have confidence that anything that I seem to be leaving behind will, be provided for in life.

Deacon John Robbins
And so, taking that question to the Lord, that response, "Whatever you want," is that advice that you give to those who come to you seeking assistance as they discern their vocation to the priesthood, religious life, marriage? 

Bishop-elect Scott Bullock
Almost always, if someone is coming to me looking for assistance, which they have through the years, probably they haven't asked that question, fully. Now ... sometimes, we have to be in the tension for a while because we're not right there. And it's like Moses, like wandering through the desert. He can't quite see the promised land. It's like, "Why do I have to have this struggle?" It's because you can't see the Promised Land yet. You to make your way there and then you can see it.

And so definitely I have encouraged folk to keep asking Jesus to show them, that's the most compelling evidence of the vocation. And for me, less compelling is [the sentiment of] "these are my gifts, these are my talents. This is what the church could use." Because honestly, Jesus wants to work through our weakness. He said that through Saint Paul [2 Corinthians 12:9-10, My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness. ... Therefore, I am content with weaknesses ... for when I am weak, then I am strong]. So, you can always expect that if you want to discern the call of the Lord to marriage, to religious life, to the diaconate, whatever,  Jesus is going to say, "I'm going to meet you where you feel inadequate, and I'm going to call you there, and you're going to find the joy of receiving my grace," which be which is what people need. Scott Bullock, I'm an okay guy. That's not what people need. They need the Lord working through me. And that's what most often happens through my weaknesses. So yeah, I definitely say to people, ask Jesus, but be ready to allow him to find you in a place where you can strengthen your weakness and not be afraid of that. 

Deacon John Robbins
Beautiful. And the joy that you're talking about that comes from that.

Speaking of joys–you've spoken about joy in the context of ordained ministry–what else brings you joy in life? What are some of your hobbies or interests? 

Bishop-elect Scott Bullock
Sure. So I would say, when I turned 50, I decided I was going to study something fun. So I obtained a master's degree in Literature and English because I've always been a reader.

My mother, God bless her, put a book in my hand when I was probably three years old, and I haven't stopped since. So I read, read, read, read, and finally decided, I wanted to really study this literature that I love so much and really have a greater appreciation for it. So I finished that when I was 52, eight years ago, and then I taught some Literature and English courses at Columbus High School and Waterloo as a college course.

So reading and literature brings me a lot of joy. I'm an avid long-distance bicyclist. I've scoped out the scene in Rapid City. It looks pretty good. It's much hillier than Iowa, which excites me. I love the hills. So we'll be up in the Black Hills riding around and the Bishop's residence there is a perfect location for me to get to key bike routes, so that's exciting. So that's a passion for me. 

I have a real interest in world film. I love studying international films and such. I have a lot of love of film from Japan and from France and other places like that. Just the idea that human beings can be that creative and they can express eternal truths through art is very inspiring to me.

So those are some of the things that I really like to enjoy in my leisure time. And I love to do with friends, too. There’s a group of priests in Dubuque and we get together every couple of months and watch a film and then discuss it, and those conversations are just incomparable. That we have that group of men together that want to talk about theology, that want to talk about philosophy and art, and that's a real pleasure, and I’ll miss that. But I'll be looking for someone else to do that with.

Deacon John Robbins
Right. Thank you for sharing that. I can think of a couple other local bishops who are cyclists as well. And I wonder if that might be a prerequisite.

Bishop-elect Scott Bullock
It might be. So actually, Bishop Joensen, Archbishop Zinkula and myself have done some epic vacations together through the years. So, here we are now. I suppose we’re all going to be bishops, but that’s not a prerequisite, apparently.

Deacon John Robbins
In our Archdiocese of Dubuque in recent years, we've been accustomed to seeing the installation of an archbishop. That's a little bit different from what you'll be experiencing. You'll be experiencing the episcopal ordination so that that sacramental right that confers the fullness of the sacrament of holy orders and makes you a successor to the apostles and in a particular way, unites you to our Holy Father, Pope Francis, and future popes.

And so, in the archdiocese, we often have a bishop who's received episcopal ordination that comes in and is installed as archbishop. Can you talk a little bit about how you're preparing or what you are anticipating for your episcopal ordination? 

Bishop-elect Schott Bullock
Yes. Great.  Lots of anticipation. So my plan is to finish as Pastor of St. Edward's in Waterloo on the 4th of August and then go for a week of retreat in Rapid City, actually. And my plan is to take the rituals of ordination, the texts with me, to pray with them. And I'm confident that that will be a time to deepen my appreciation for the ritual to come. This will be my third time I've been ordained. And, it will be the last, of course. This is all you get.

So, I've always been very consoled, joyful, and peaceful by that experience. I don't know what this third one will be like because the Lord surprises us always. But, I'm counting on a rich outpouring of the Holy Spirit. How I'll experience that, or what I'll know about that, is to be determined.

But I know that will happen, and I know that's true because Jesus' own promise when two or three gather in his name, there he is in the midst of them. So we know that's going to happen. What we’ll expect in Rapid City on the 23rd of September is a gathering of many from that diocese, as well as bishops from around the United States, particularly in the upper Midwest. Rapid City is part of what's called region eight. So that will be the dioceses of Minnesota and into the Dakotas. And so probably most or many of those bishops will be present. And the sense is that the body is gathering to pray, asking the Spirit to descend upon this man, to consecrate to as a bishop. That being said, the Church asked me to designate three specific bishops to be co-consecrators. When I spoke on the phone with apostolic nuncio at one point, I asked him, "Well, how do you figure out who those are?"

And he said, well, that's up to you. So I said, "Do you have any recommendations?" And he said, "Well, yes." Normally it would be the metropolitan archbishop of your region that would be the primary consecrator, that turns out to be Archbishop Bernard Hebda of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, which is a happy choice. We were in seminary together, and I've known him through the years, and he's always been very gracious. He's probably the second person who called me after the nuncio and was so encouraging and so supportive, and I know that will continue. So I'm happy that he will be doing that. And he's agreed to that. I'll be determining the other two in the next two weeks or so.

So they'll be praying over me, asking the Holy Spirit to be poured upon me. And the sense is that there's a transference of apostolic succession going on there. So these are men, the bishops that will consecrate me, who are already ordained and aligned to the apostles. And now they're going to share that with me. And, the Church puts a lot of power and confidence in that reality.

So I expect that's going to be very amazing. But as far as how I'll react or how anybody else reacts, who knows? But I'd like to just jump into that trust that Jesus is going to be good to me. 

Deacon John Robbins
Right. Sometimes, when people are asking a Bishop-elect or an Archbishop-elect in a position similar to yours initial questions, they ask, "What is your vision?" And the common response is, "Well, I need to be here for a while and get to know the people." Understanding this and not wanting to ask that [exact] question, are there guiding principles that maybe you'll use that you've seen other bishops or archbishops employ in terms of how you might guide or how you might cooperate with the faithful, the ordained, and the religious in the diocese of Rapid City?

Bishop-elect Scott Bullock
I guess my first inclination to that question, which I've heard a few times, so I did have the opportunities to study church law one point during my priesthood and did some work in our Metropolitan tribunal, some might consider law a little dry. I never did. I thought it was very vivid and very beautiful. And in particular there's a section in the, in the law, the code of canon law, which speaks about the responsibilities of bishops.

And so I would imagine I'm going to go and pray about that and ask people of Rapid City to pray with me about that. And so these are the things that the church envisions that a bishop would be responsible for. And, how is that going now? And where might I go in the future? One of the things I really enjoy most, and I think that this is a disposition in me or a personality type, is I love thinking about new things and setting a vision for the new possibilities.

And at the same time, I'm confident and certain that the Holy Spirit has been working through the people of the Diocese of Rapid City already. So I need to know more about that so that I can continue in that inspired direction, but also recognize that the Spirit is going to ask us for more. He's going to say to us, "Rise, let us be on our way."

He's going to say, "Let's go to more." And for me, I want to figure out where we are and where we're going to go. And, that will be about, again, looking at what our Church envisions a bishop is responsible for, the different important parts of this ministry, and making an assessment of where we are and also where have we been, and where can we go still?

So I think that will be the approach. As far as specifics, you're right, I don't know that.

Deacon John Robbins
Wonderful. Well, your episcopal ordination will be Monday, September 23rd in Rapid City. And, as I started off saying, the faithful of the archdiocese will continue to hold you in prayer as you begin this new episcopal ministry as you lead the Diocese of Rapid City. We are very happy for you, and happy for them. And as the saying goes, "Their gain is our loss," but we're not really losing you. We know that as well. And we'll continue to hold you in prayer. And I thank you for joining me today.

Bishop-elect Scott Bullock
My pleasure. It's been a joy. And I do appreciate and rely on the prayers of so many. That's why the transition is going so well so far. So thanks, and God bless you all. 

Deacon John Robbins
Thank you.