Bp. Callahan featured at Springfield Massachusetts Diocesan Men's Conference

The Most Rev. William Callahan, bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of La Crosse, Wis., is the featured speaker at "For Freedom Christ Set Us Free," the 13th Annual Springfield Diocesan Catholic Men's Conference, at Bellamy Middle School, 314 Pendelton Ave., on March 7.

A Chicago native, Callahan is a Conventual Franciscan of the St. Bonaventure Province in Chicago. He was named the 10th bishop of La Crosse, in 2010, by Pope Benedict XVI. Callahan became the first Conventual Franciscan bishop in this country when Benedict named him auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, in 2007. The diocese's archbishop at the time was Timothy Dolan, now Cardinal Dolan, of the Archdiocese of New York. Prior to that, Callahan served as spiritual director for the Pontifical North American College in Rome.

A graduate of Chicago's Loyola University, Callahan earned a bachelor's degree in radio and television communications. He earned his master's of divinity degree from St. Michael's College at the University of Toronto in 1976, and was ordained, in 1977, by Milwaukee Archbishop William E. Cousins.

Callahan writes a monthly blog, "There is a River," whose latest entry focuses on the movie, "Fifty Shades of Grey," which he called a "titillating exposé that pays homage to our major false gods: power, pleasure, wealth, and influence."

MassLive