Joseph A. Williams

Joseph Andrew Williams (born May 2, 1974) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who has been serving as an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis in Minnesota since 2021. Pope Francis appointed Williams as Coadjutor Bishop of Camden on May 21, 2024.

Early life
Joseph Williams was born on May 2, 1974, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He has eight siblings, one of whom, Peter Williams, is a priest in the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. Joseph Williams attended Saint Croix Catholic School in Stillwater, Minnesota, and graduated from Stillwater High School in 1992.

Williams studied at the University of Minnesota Morris (UMN–Morris) where he was a varsity tennis player and twice competed in the NCAA Division III men's tennis championships. He graduated from UMN–Morris with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1996.

Williams continued his studies at the Franciscan University of Steubenville in Steubenville, Ohio. While there, he decided to become a priest. He received a philosophy/pre-theology degree from the university in 1998 and then entered the Saint Paul Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota, where he was awarded a Master of Divinity degree in 2002.

Priesthood
Williams was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis by Archbishop Harry Flynn on May 28, 2002, at the Cathedral of Saint Paul in St. Paul, Minnesota. The archdiocese assigned Williams as parochial vicar at the Cathedral of Saint Paul from 2002 to 2004 and Divine Mercy in Faribault from 2004 to 2005. In 2005, Williams was appointed pastor of Saint Mathias Parish in Hampton, Minnesota, and Saint Mary parish in New Trier, Minnesota. He left both parishes in 2008 to become pastor of Saint Stephen Parish in Minneapolis.

When Williams was appointed as pastor of Saint Stephen's, the parish was largely failing to follow the rubrics of the Mass of the Second Vatican Council and did not submit to the teachings of the Catholic Church. Williams' efforts to bring the parish in line with Catholic teaching resulted in many of the older parishioners walking out in the middle of Mass and leaving the parish entirely. His first Christmas Mass at the parish had no worshippers. Williams eventually rebuilt the parish into a thriving Latino community, the largest in Minnesota, with over 1,600 families.

Archbishop Bernard Hebda in 2018 named Williams as the vicar for the Latino ministry.

During the 2020 George Floyd protests in Minneapolis, Williams responded to a cry for help in the middle of the night from a parishioner family whose apartment building was in danger of burning down. He drove to the apartment and welcomed them into the parish rectory for safety.

Auxiliary Bishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis
Pope Francis appointed Williams as an auxiliary bishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis on December 10, 2021. On January 25, 2022, Williams was consecrated as bishop by Archbishop Bernard Hebda at the Cathedral of Saint Paul, with Bishops Richard Pates and Andrew H. Cozzens acting as co-consecrators. During his time as auxiliary bishop, Williams led initiatives for Latino ministry and implementation of the 2022 Archdiocesan synod.

Coadjutor of Camden
Pope Francis named Williams as Coadjutor Bishop of Camden on May 21, 2024. His Mass of Welcome is scheduled for late summer 2024.