{{short description|American bishop of the Catholic Church (born 1960)}} {{Use American English|date = August 2019}} {{Use mdy dates|date = August 2019}} {{Infobox Christian leader | type = | honorific_prefix = His Excellency, The Most Reverend | name = Bernard Edward Shlesinger | title = Auxiliary Bishop of Atlanta | see = | archdiocese = Atlanta | appointed = May 15, 2017 | enthroned = July 19, 2017 | retired = | predecessor = | successor = | ordination = June 22, 1996 | ordained_by = Francis Joseph Gossman | consecration = July 19, 2017 | consecrated_by = Wilton Daniel Gregory, Luis R. Zarama, and Michael Francis Burbidge <!---------- Personal details ----------> | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1960|12|17}} | birth_place = Washington, D.C., US | death_date = | death_place = | buried = | coat_of_arms = | motto = ''Christum oportet crescere''<br>(Christ must grow) | education = Virginia Tech<br>Catholic University of America<br>Pontifical North American College<br>Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas }} {{Infobox bishopstyles | name= Bernard Edward Shlesinger | dipstyle= *His Excellency *The Most Reverend | offstyle=Your Excellency | relstyle=Bishop | image = Coat of arms of Bernard Edward Shlesinger.svg | image_size = 200px }}
'''Bernard Edward "Ned" Shlesinger III''' (born December 17, 1960) is an American Catholic prelate who has served as an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Atlanta in Georgia since 2017.
==Biography==
=== Early life === Bernard Shlesinger III was born on December 17, 1960, in Washington, D.C. to Bernard E. “Bill” Shlesinger Jr. and Rita Belmont Shlesinger. Bill Shlesinger was an inventor and attorney. Bernard Shlesinger has two brothers and three sisters.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Golden |first=Nichole |date=2017-08-03 |title=Siblings support their youngest brother as he becomes Atlanta bishop - Georgia Bulletin |url=https://georgiabulletin.org/news/2017/08/siblings-support-youngest-brother-becomes-atlanta-bishop/ |access-date=2024-01-05 |website=georgiabulletin.org |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":0" />
Shlesinger attended Mount Vernon High School in Alexandria, Virginia, then entered Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (VPI) also known as Virginia Tech (VT) in Blacksburg, Virginia, with plans to become a farmer. While at Virginia Tech, he started pilot training through the college.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" />
After receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in agricultural engineering in 1983, Shlesinger entered the US Air Force as a commissioned officer. As a pilot, he flew Lockheed C-130E Hercules air transport planes out of Pope Field in Fayetteville, North Carolina. While in the Air Force, he started serving as a catechist for Reverend Richard Higgins, then a military chaplain.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Most Reverend Bernard E. Shlesinger III|url=https://archatl.com/about/archbishop-and-bishops/reverend-bernard-e-shlesinger-iii/|access-date=2021-12-19|website=Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta {{!}} Atlanta, GA|language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":1" />
In 1990, Shlesinger retired from the Air Force with the rank of captain and started studying for the priesthood. He first studied philosophy at the Theological College of Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. Shlesinger then went to Rome to reside at the Pontifical North American College while studying there. Shlesinger was awarded a Bachelor of Theology degree from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome in 1995. He then studied for a Licentiate in Sacred Theology from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" />
=== Priesthood === thumb|280x280px|St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, Wynnewood, Pennsylvania (2012) After returning to North Carolina, Shlesinger was ordained a priest on June 22, 1996, by Bishop Francis Gossman at St. Mark Church in Wilmington, North Carolina, for the Diocese of Raleigh.<ref name="catholic-hierarchy.org">{{Cite web|title=Bishop Bernard Edward ("Ned") Shlesinger III [Catholic-Hierarchy]|url=https://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bshles.html|access-date=2021-12-19|website=www.catholic-hierarchy.org}}</ref> After Shlesinger's ordination, the diocese assigned him that same year as parochial vicar at St. Mary Parish in Wilmington. Two years later, in 1998, the diocese appointed him as pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Newton Grove, North Carolina, along with the position of assistant director of vocations for the diocese.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" />
In 2007, the diocese moved Shlesinger out of Our Lady of Guadalupe to become the director of vocations and seminarian formation. Between 2010 and 2012, he also served as the diocesan administrator of Maria, Reina de las Americas Parish in Mount Olive, North Carolina. <ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" />
In 2013, Shlesinger left Raleigh to become director of spiritual formation at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" />
=== Auxiliary Bishop of Atlanta === On May 15, 2017, Pope Francis appointed Shlesinger as auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Atlanta.<ref name=":2">{{cite news|url=http://www.usccb.org/news/2017/17-080.cfm|title=Pope Francis Names Priest as New Auxiliary Bishop of Atlanta|last=Keane|first=Judy|date=May 15, 2017|work=United States Conference of Catholic Bishops|accessdate=May 15, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://archatl.com/new-auxiliary-bishop-named-archdiocese-atlanta/|title=New Auxiliary Bishop Named for The Archdiocese of Atlanta|accessdate=May 15, 2017|publisher=Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta}} {{Dead link|date=August 2019}}</ref> He was consecrated by Cardinal Wilton Gregory at the Cathedral of Christ the King in Atlanta on July 19, 2017, with Bishops Michael Francis Burbidge and Luis Rafael Zarama Pasqualetto serving as co-consecrators.<ref name="catholic-hierarchy.org" />
As an auxiliary bishop, Shlesinger is responsible for Region II of the archdiocese.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Archbishop's Office |url=https://archatl.com/offices/archbishops-office/ |access-date=2024-01-05 |website={{!}} Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta |language=en-US}}</ref>
==Coat of arms== Based on the arms of Shlesinger's home diocese of Raleigh, North Carolina, by reversing the color to be red on silver (white), is a cross of the faith that is composed of eight diamonds (heraldically called “lozenges”). Upon these lozenges is a gold escutcheon (small shield within the major shield) that is charged with the symbolism of the Sacred Heart. To the lower right, base sinister, is a blue “M,” of the Virgin Mary, taken from the arms of Pope John Paul II.
== See also == {{div col|colwidth=30em}} * Catholic Church hierarchy * Catholic Church in the United States * Historical list of the Catholic bishops of the United States * List of Catholic bishops of the United States * Lists of patriarchs, archbishops, and bishops {{div col end}}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[https://archatl.com/ Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta Official Site]
{{s-start}} {{s-rel|ca}} {{succession box |title=Auxiliary Bishop of Atlanta |before= – |after= – |years= 2017–Present | }} {{s-end}}
{{Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta|state=collapsed}} {{Roman Catholic Diocese of Raleigh|state=collapsed}} {{portal bar|Biography|Catholicism|Georgia (U.S. state)}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shlesinger, Bernard}} Category:1960 births Category:21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States Category:Living people Category:Pontifical Gregorian University alumni Category:Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas alumni Category:Religious leaders from Washington, D.C. Category:United States Air Force officers Category:Virginia Tech alumni Category:St. Charles Borromeo Seminary faculty Category:Bishops appointed by Pope Francis