Robert J. Lombardo


Robert Joseph Lombardo C.F.R. is an American Catholic prelate who has served as auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Chicago in Illinois since 2020. He is the founder and a member of the Community of Franciscan Friars of the Renewal

Biography

Early life

Robert Lombardo was born on September 4, 1957, in Stamford, Connecticut. In 1961, he entered St. Maurice Parish primary school in Stamford, then in 1971 Stamford Catholic High School. In 1975, Lombardo enrolled at the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Indiana, graduating with a Bachelor of Business Administration in accounting in 1979. From 1979 to 1980, he worked in public accountancy at Price Waterhouse.
By 1980, Lombardo had decided to join the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin. That same year, he started studying at the Greymoor Friary in Garrison, New York. Lombardo made his first vows to his religious order in 1981. The Capuchins sent him in 1984 to Bolivia and Honduras to work in parishes and with street kids. He returned to New York City in 1985 to assist with youth programs at Our Lady of Sorrows Parish in Manhattan.
Lombardo took his perpetual vows to the Capuchin Friars in 1986. He joined the Franciscan Friars Preaching Team in 1987, remaining with them for 14 years. That same year, he was appointed director of the Padre Pio Shelter for the Homeless in the Bronx borough of New York City and received a Master of Divinity degree from the Maryknoll School of Theology in Ossining, New York. In 1987, Lombardo co-founded the CFR, a new religious order, in New York.

Priesthood

Lombardo was ordained a priest for the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal on May 12, 1990, by Cardinal John O'Connor at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York. After his ordination, Lombardo held the following positions in New York City:
  • Founder and director of Saint Anthony Residence
  • Director of Saint Anthony Shelter in Bronx ;
  • Director of Saint Anthony Free Dental/Medical Clinic in Bronx ;
  • Vicar of the community.
In 2004, at the request of Cardinal Francis George, Lombardo moved to Illinois to establish a mission church in one of the poorest neighborhoods of Chicago. Lombardo served as:
In 2010, Lombardo founded the community of the Franciscans of the Eucharist of Chicago. In 2015, Cardinal Blase Cupich named Lombardo as vicar forane of Deanery III-A in the archdiocese.

Auxiliary Bishop of Chicago

Pope Francis appointed Lombardo as titular bishop of Munatiana and auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Chicago on September 11, 2020. On November 13, 2020, Lombardo was consecrated by Cardinal Blase Cupich at Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago.