Bishop of Grand Rapids
The Reverend David J. Walkowiak was born on June 18, 1953, in Cleveland, Ohio. After attending Saint Ignatius High School in Cleveland, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, in 1975. He subsequently obtained a Master of Divinity degree from Saint Mary Seminary in Wickliffe. He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Cleveland on June 9, 1979. Later, he earned a Licentiate and a Doctorate in Canon Law from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. (1984–1988). Following his ordination, he served as parochial vicar at Saint Mary Parish in Lorain (1979–1984), and as Vice-Chancellor of the Diocese of Cleveland and Professor of Canon Law at Saint Mary Seminary (1988–2006). Since 2006, he has served as pastor of Saint Joan of Arc Parish in Chagrin Falls. He is a member of the Presbyteral Council and an associate judge of the Tribunal of Appeal for the Ecclesiastical Province of Cincinnati, Ohio.