Donald Walter Trautman

Donald Walter Trautman (born June 24, 1936) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as Bishop of Erie.

Biography

Donald Trautman was born in Buffalo, New York, and attended Niagara University in Lewiston.^[1] He studied theology under Karl Rahner at the University of Innsbruck in Austria, from where he obtained his Licentiate of Sacred Theology in 1962. He was ordained to the priesthood in Innsbruck on April 7, 1962, for the Diocese of Buffalo. Upon his return, he was successively made a parish administrator in Collins and associate pastor in Buffalo.

He later studied biblical language for one year at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., continuing his post-graduate work in Rome at the Pontifical Biblical Institute, earning his licentiate in Scripture in 1965. During his studies in Rome, Trautman served as a peritus, or theological expert, at the Second Vatican Council. In 1966, he earned his doctorate in Sacred Theology from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum).^[1]

Career

From 1966 to 1973, he taught Scripture and theology at St. John Vianney Seminary (now Christ the King Seminary), where he also served as dean of students. Trautman worked as a retreat master for Roman Catholic religious communities, and vice-president and president of Buffalo's Pastoral Council. He was private secretary to Bishop Edward Head, and later named Chancellor (1973) and Vicar General (1974) of Buffalo. He was raised to the rank of an Honorary Prelate of His Holiness in 1975.

On February 27, 1985, Trautman was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Buffalo and Titular Bishop of Sassura by Pope John Paul II. He received episcopal consecration on the following April 16 from Bishop Head, with Bishops Bernard Joseph McLaughlin and Stanislaus Joseph Brzana serving as co-consecrators, at St. Joseph Cathedral. After a period of pastoral work, he became rector of Christ the King Seminary.

Trautman was later named Bishop of Diocese of Erie in Erie, Pennsylvania on June 2, 1990. As Bishop of Erie, he energized the diocesan youth and vocational programs, renovated the interior of St. Peter Cathedral, and established a diocesan Deposit and Loan Fund and a retirement home for clergy dedicated in honor of his predecessor, Bishop Michael Joseph Murphy.

Styles of Donald Trautman
Reference style	The Most Reverend
Spoken style	Your Excellency
Religious style	Monsignor
Posthumous style	none

He is a participant of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, having served as chairman of the Committees on Doctrine, USCCB Financial Audit, and currently Liturgy. Trautman has also been the episcopal moderator of the Apostleship of the Sea and of the Diocesan Fiscal Management Conference.

The edition of April 4, 2007 of L'Osservatore Romano accidentally announced Bishop Trautman had died when he was confused with former bishop Michael Murphy, who had died April 2.^[2] The mistake was also noted by a cartoon in the The Tablet.^[2]

He was critical of the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum and indicated that those priests who celebrate such a Mass would first need to show that they have the requisite knowledge of its rubrics and of Latin.^[3] Trautman has been a vocal proponent of "inclusive language" and was appointed chairman of the Bishops' Committee on the Liturgy (BCL) from 1993-1996 during a period of great controversy and extended debates over the proposed revisions of the "Sacramentary" (Roman Missal) and the revised translation of the Lectionary. The Holy See eventually rejected the Committee's proposed "Sacramentary" in 1998. Bishop Trautman is also on the editorial board of "We Believe!", a group of progressive liturgists organized in 1994 to oppose "roll backs" in liturgical reform.^[4]

In June 2011, Bishop Trautman turned 75, at which point Canon Law requests that a bishop tender his resignation to Pope Benedict XVI. Bishop Trautman's successor, Lawrence T. Persico, was named as the tenth bishop of Erie on July 31, 2012 at which point Pope Benedict XVI officially accepted Trautman's resignation.^[5]

See also

• List of the Catholic bishops of the United States
• List of premature obituaries

References

External links

• Diocese of Erie

Diocese of Erie
Ordinaries	Bishops Michael O'Connor Joshua Maria Young Tobias Mullen John Edmund Fitzmaurice John Mark Gannon John Francis Whealon Alfred Michael Watson Michael Joseph Murphy Donald Walter Trautman Lawrence Thomas Persico Auxiliary bishops John Mark Gannon Edward Peter McManaman Alfred Michael Watson
Churches	Cathedral St. Peter Cathedral, Erie Parishes Decker's Chapel, St. Marys, Elk County St. Severin's Old Log Church, Cooper Settlement
Education	High schools Cathedral Preparatory School, Erie Central Catholic High School, DuBois Elk County Catholic High School, St. Marys Kennedy Catholic High School, Hermitage Mercyhurst Preparatory School, Erie Venango Catholic High School, Oil City Villa Maria Academy, Erie
Priests	Lawrence Eugene Brandt
Catholicism portal

Diocese of Buffalo
Ordinaries	Bishops John Timon Stephen Michael Vincent Ryan James Edward Quigley Charles Henry Colton Dennis Joseph Dougherty William Turner John Aloysius Duffy John Francis O'Hara Joseph Aloysius Burke James Aloysius McNulty Edward Dennis Head Henry Joseph Mansell Edward Urban Kmiec Richard Joseph Malone Auxiliary bishops Joseph Aloysius Burke Leo Richard Smith Pius Anthony Benincasa Stanislaus Joseph Brzana Bernard Joseph McLaughlin Donald Walter Trautman Edward M. Grosz
Churches	Cathedral St. Joseph Cathedral, Buffalo Basilica Our Lady of Victory Basilica, Lackawanna Chapel Our Lady Help of Christians Chapel, Cheektowaga Parishes All Saints Roman Catholic Church, Buffalo Blessed Trinity Roman Catholic Church, Buffalo Church of St. Stanislaus, Bishop and Martyr, Buffalo Corpus Christi Church, Buffalo Holy Angels Church, Buffalo St. Louis Roman Catholic Church, Buffalo Former parishs Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church Complex, Niagara Falls St. Adalbert's Basilica, Buffalo St. Francis de Sales Roman Catholic Church, Buffalo St. Francis Xavier Roman Catholic Parish, Buffalo St. Gerard's Roman Catholic Church, Buffalo Saint Mary of Sorrows Roman Catholic Church, Buffalo
Education	Colleges and universities Canisius College, Buffalo D'Youville College, Buffalo Hilbert College, Hamburg Niagara University, Niagara County St. Bonaventure University, St. Bonaventure Trocaire College, Buffalo Villa Maria College, Buffalo Convents Sisters of St. Francis of Penance and Christian Charity Villa Maria Motherhouse Complex High schools Archbishop Walsh High School, Olean Bishop Timon – St. Jude High School, Buffalo Buffalo Academy of the Sacred Heart, Buffalo Canisius High School, Buffalo Cardinal O'Hara High School, Town of Tonawanda Immaculata Academy, Hamburg Mount Mercy Academy, Buffalo Mount Saint Mary Academy, Kenmore Nardin Academy, Buffalo Niagara Catholic High School, Niagara Falls Notre Dame High School, Batavia Saint Francis High School, Athol Springs St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute, Buffalo St. Mary's High School, Lancaster
Priests	Nelson Baker John P. Boland Celestine Joseph Damiano John Joseph Fitzpatrick Edmund Francis Gibbons Francis Xavier Krautbauer John Joseph McMahon James Johnston Navagh Thomas Joseph Walsh
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