Donald Edmond Pelotte

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Donald E. Pelotte, SSS is the third Roman Catholic bishop of the Diocese of Gallup, New Mexico. He was the first person of Native American descent to become a Catholic bishop. He is also the only known Roman Catholic bishop to have ordained his own twin brother, Father Dana F. Pelotte, SSS, to the priesthood, on September 4, 1999 at their childhood parish in Waterville, Maine.^[1]

Bishop Pelotte was born on April 13, 1945, in Waterville, Maine, to Norris Albert Pelotte and Margaret Yvonne LaBrie Pelotte. His father was a member of the Abenaki First Nations tribe and his mother was of French-Canadian (Québécois) descent. Donald and his twin brother Dana were the youngest of five brothers. He studied at Eymard Seminary in Hyde Park, New York during his high school years. He did his college studies John Carroll University in Cleveland, Ohio and later pursued doctoral studies at Fordham University. His doctoral dissertation was entitled: John Courtney Murray, Theologian in Conflict: Roman Catholicism and the American Experience. This was later published in book form by Paulist Press.^[2]

At age 33, he became the Provincial Superior of the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament and was the youngest major superior of a religious community of men in the United States at the time. On February 24, 1986, he was named Coadjutor Bishop of Gallup and was ordained a bishop on May 6, 1986. Upon the retirement of The Most Reverend Jerome J. Hastritch, then Bishop of Gallup on March 20, 1990, Bishop Pelotte became the Third Bishop of Gallup.^[2]

[edit] Injured in fall

Pelotte was seriously injured in his Gallup home on July 23, 2007, including a traumatic brain injury. According to chancery officials and a police report, Pelotte insisted his injuries resulted from a fall down his home staircase, however his aide speculated that "looked like he'd been beat up" and that his injuries were more consistent with a brutal assault rather than with a fall down a carpeted stairwell.^[3]

On January 3, 2008, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Thomas J. Olmsted, Bishop of Phoenix, as apostolic administrator sede plena of the diocese of Gallup, and granted Bishop Pelotte a one year leave of absence to continue his recovery. Bishop Olmsted will continue serving as the Bishop of Phoenix during this time.^[4]

On April 30, 2008 the Pope Benedict XVI accepted the resignation from the pastoral government of the Diocese of Gallup, presented by H.E. Msgr. Donald E. Pelotte, SSS, in accordance with canon 401 § 2 of the Code of Canon Law.^[5]. Until a new bishop of Gallup is appointed and has taken canonical possession of the Diocese, Bishop Olmsted will continue to govern the diocese as Apostolic Administrator.