Bishop's Homilies & Document   Bishop's Schedule   Bishop Paul J. Swain was ordained / installed as the eighth bishop of the Diocese of Sioux Falls on October 26, 2006. Here you will find information from Bishop Swain's recent ordination. Bishop Swain's Biography Bishop Paul J. Swain was born on September 12, 1943 in Newark, New York, located between Rochester and Syracuse. His parents are William (deceased) and Gertrude (Mohr) and he has two brothers and four sisters (one deceased). He attended elementary and high school in Newark, graduating in 1961. He moved to Ada, Ohio to attend Ohio Northern University from which he graduated in 1965 with a degree in History. From there he traveled further west to Madison, Wisconsin to attend the University of Wisconsin from which he earned a Masters in Political Science in 1967 and a Juris Doctorate in 1974.
From 1967 through 1972 he served in the United States Air Force as an Intelligence Officer, including service in Vietnam where he earned a bronze star. He returned to Madison and after earning his law degree he practiced law in Madison until getting involved in the campaign and administration of Wisconsin governor Lee Sherman Dreyfus, who served from 1979 to 1983. Bishop Swain served during those years as legal counsel and director of policy. After this he returned briefly to private practice.Near the end of his service to Governor Dreyfus, as he pondered his future, the first thought of priesthood came to him. Since he wasn’t Catholic this seemed strange, but he took it as a prompting to take his faith more seriously. Private reading and studying and attendance at Mass led to more formal instruction and entrance into the Catholic faith in 1983. This proved not enough to dismiss the thought of priesthood and soon enough he found himself accepted as a seminarian and studying at Blessed John XXIII National Seminary, Weston, Massachusetts. He completed his Master of Divinity and was ordained as a priest of the Diocese of Madison on May 27, 1988.After ordination Bishop Swain began his pastoral work as associate pastor of Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, Sun Prairie. Over the years he has also served as pastor of St. Mary of Pine Bluff, Cross Plains and St. Bernard Parish, Middleton. Most recently he served as rector/pastor of St. Raphael Cathedral, St. Patrick Parish, and Holy Redeemer Parish in Madison.His diocesan appointments have included service as Assistant to the Bishop, Vice Chancellor, Moderator of the Curia and Vocations Director. He was appointed Vicar General by Most Reverend William H. Bullock in October of 1996 and by Most Reverend Robert C. Morlino upon his arrival as Bishop of Madison in August of 2003.He was named a Prelate of Honor by Pope John Paul II and is a member of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem and the Knights of Columbus (Chaplain, University of Wisconsin Council). For the Diocese of Madison he served on the Diocesan Consultors, Finance Council, Presbyteral Council, St. Raphael Priest Retirement Fund Board, Priest Personnel Board and Diocesan Cemetery Board. He is also a past member of the Blessed John XXIII National Seminary Board of Directors. Now he moves still further west as bishop for the Diocese of Sioux Falls, which comprises South Dakota east of the Missouri River, some 35,000 square miles of territory. Nearly 130,000 Catholics live here among the total population of over 500,000.