Gerald Lee Vincke

Gerald Lee Vincke (born July 9, 1964) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He has been serving as bishop for the Diocese of Salina in Kansas since 2018.

Early life
Gerald Vincke was born on July 9, 1964, in Saginaw, Michigan, one of 10 children of Henry and Fidelis Vincke. He attended New Lothrop High School in New Lorthrop, Michigan. After his high school graduation, Vincke enrolled at Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Michigan. He receive an Associates Degree in journalism in 1985 and a Bachelor of Science degree in public relations and marketing in 1986.

After graduating from Ferris State, Vincke decided to become a priest. In late 1986, he started studying philosophy at Thomas More College in Crestview, Kentucky and theology at the nearby Athenaeum of Ohio Seminary in Cincinnati, Ohio. Vincke then returned to Michigan to attend Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit. He graduated from Sacred Heart with a Master of Divinity degree in 1999.

Priesthood
On July 12, 1999, Vincke was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Lansing at St. Mary Cathedral in Lansing by Bishop Carl Mengeling. After his 1999 ordination, the diocese assigned Vincke as parochial vicar at St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in Anne Arbor, Michigan. He left St. Thomas in 2001 to attend Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska to study spirituality.

On his return to Michigan in 2002, Vincke became director of the Bethany House Youth Retreat Center in Lansing. In 2003, Vincke was also named as director of seminarians for the diocese, where he would serve for the next seven years. He left Bethany House in 2004. In 2005, he assumed the role of weekend pastor, in addition to his other responsibilities, at St. Thomas Parish in East Lansing, Michigan. In 2006, Mengeling appointed Vincke as chair of the Formation Department for the diocese, relinquishing his other job positions.

Vincke went to Rome in 2010 to serve as spiritual director at the Pontifical North American College. Pope Benedict XVI named him as a chaplain to his holiness in 2012. Returning to Lansing five years later, Vincke was assigned as pastor of Holy Family Parish in Grand Blanc, Michigan.

Bishop of Salina
Pope Francis appointed Vincke as bishop of Salina on June 13, 2018. He was consecrated at Sacred Heart Cathedral in Salina by Archbishop Joseph Naumann on August 22, 2018. Vincke adopted the episcopal motto "Rich in Mercy", saying in a 2018 interview, "I am so aware of God’s incredible mercy in my life. I know that he loves me even as imperfect as I am. And because of that, I am called to show his mercy to others – to remember that God loves them in the same way he loves me."In September 2018, the Archdiocese of Washington announced that former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick would reside at St. Fidelis Parish in Victoria, Kansas. Vincke explained his decision to permit the arrangement by a need to have mercy while pursuing justice. In his statement, he referred to Maria Goretti, a sainted girl who forgave her killer on her deathbed.In January 2020, it was announced that McCarrick, by then laicized, had moved to an undisclosed location.

In February 2021, Vincke assumed the additional responsibility of being apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Dodge City. Its bishop, John Brungardt, was being investigated by the Vatican and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation for allegations of child sexual abuse. On March 23, 2022, Bishop Brundgardt was cleared of the allegations and reassumed leadership of the Diocese of Dodge City.