The Most Reverend J. Terry Steib, S.V.D.
Bishop of Memphis
INSTALLED May 5, 1993

BIOGRAPHY

J. (JAMES) TERRY STEIB, S.V.D. 

Bishop J. Terry Steib, S.V.D. was born in Vacherie, Louisiana, the oldest of five children born to Rosemond and Vivian Jones Steib. 

Bishop Steib received his Theological Degree from Divine Word Seminary in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi in 1967 and his Master of Arts Degree in Guidance and Counseling from Xavier University, New Orleans in 1973.

He was ordained to the Priesthood on January 6, 1967 in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.  Following his ordination, he was assigned as Assistant Dean of Students at Divine Word Seminary, Bay St. Louis, Mississippi from 1967 until 1969.  He also served as a professor at St. Stanislaus High School in Bay St. Louis from 1967 to 1976. 

In 1976 Bishop Steib was elected to the first of three terms (1976-1983) as the Provincial Superior of Divine Word Missionaries, Southern Province.  He was also elected Vice President of the Conference of Major Superiors of Men (1979-1983).

On February 10, 1984, he was ordained Auxiliary Bishop for the Archdiocese of St. Louis, Missouri and Titular Bishop of Fallaba in St. Louis, Missouri by Archbishop John L. May.

Bishop Steib was installed as the fourth Bishop of Memphis on May 5, 1993 by the Most Reverend Agostino Cacciavillan, Apostolic Pro-Nuncio.  He is currently the Consultant for the African American Catholics Committee of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops and serves as a member of many Boards of Directors: The Catholic Extension Society, Catholic University of America, Catholic Relief Services.

BISHOP’S COAT OF ARMS SIGNIFICANCE

The arms of Bishop Steib appear on the right side of the shield, joined with those of the Diocese of Memphis and surrounded by the Bishop’s motto and the heraldic symbols of his office.

The colors of the diocesan arms, a red field with white and blue accents, are taken from the State Flag of Tennessee; in heraldry, however, white is always shown as metallic silver. The principal charge, a silver pyramid crowned with the Christian cross, recalls the ancient city of Memphis, the capital of Egypt in the pharaonic age, from which the city takes its name. The cross, the sign of faith, is indicative of the Christianity of modern Memphis. The blue wavy bars on the upper division of the shield symbolize the two rivers that constitute the boundaries of the diocese, the Tennessee and the Mississippi. The small mountain - “montini” in Italian - are a play on the family name of Pope Paul VI, who established the diocese in 1971; they are also reminiscent of the mountains of Tennessee.

The arms of Bishop Steib feature a tri-colored field - black, red, and green - which recalls the Flag of the Black Liberation Movement; this in turn is based on the Flag of the nation-state of Ghana, whose independence in 1957 gave rise to the general decolonization of the African continent. The colors represent, respectively, the great people that has sprung from this land, the blood shed in its defense, and the green plains of Africa.

The principal charge is taken from the arms of the Society of the Divine Word, of which Congregation the Bishop is a member. These arms display a cross standing on a rocky mound, which in the arms of Bishop Steib has been modified into a heraldic trimount, while the simple cross has been enriched by the addition of fleur-de-lis on each of the upper extremities. The fleur-de-lis, which like the cross and trimount are shown in gold, are taken from the arms of the Archdiocese of St. Louis, for whose service Bishop Steib was ordained to the episcopacy in 1984.

Flanking the cross are two stalks of sugar cane, likewise shown in gold. The Bishop has chosen these as a personal symbol, inasmuch as his father was a sugar cane worker and the Bishop himself worked in the sugar cane fields of Louisiana as a young man. By extension, this symbol serves to identify black workers in general, to whom the Bishop considers himself in a special sense a minister of the Gospel.

Above the shield are a gold processional cross and a green clerical hat with six tassels, arranged in three rows, on each hat string. These are traditional heraldic symbols for the office of bishop. Clerics display the soft-brimmed hat in place of the layman’s military helmet to emphasize their devotion to the works of peace.

Bishop Steib’s motto, The Lord Is My Light, demonstrates his trust in God, a trust which is the hallmark of all Christians. It is a tribute as well to the divine guidance which the Bishop has felt often throughout his life.

SYMBOLISM OF THE COAT OF ARMS (Blazon)

Impaled arms. Dexter: gules, a pyramid ensigned by a cross argent, issuing from the base a mountain of six coupeaux, one two, and three of the last, on a chief of the same two barrulets wavy azure. (Diocese of Memphis) Sinister: per fess sable and sable a fess gules, overall on a trimount between two stalks of sugar cane a Latin cross fleury at the extremities all or. (Bishop Steib) Behind the shield a processional cross or; the whole ensigned with a pontifical hat bearing six tassels on either side vert.

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Office of the Bishop

Vicar General
Rev. Msgr. Peter Buchignani, V.G
(901) 756-1213
Pastor, St. Francis of Assisi Church

Episcopal Vicar/Moderator of the Curia
Rev. Robert D. Ponticello, E.V.
(901) 373-1200

Chancellor
Rev. Michael P. Joyce, CM
(901) 373-1216

Dean of the Jackson Deanery
Rev. Thomas D. Kirk
(731) 925-4852
Pastor, St. Mary Church

Director of Vocations
Rev. J. Keith Stewart
(901) 725-2700

Permanent Diaconate Community Director
Deacon Frank Williams
(901) 373-1200 

Vicar for Religious
Sr. Catherine Galaskiewicz, O.P.
(901) 373-1203

Clergy Education Interim Director
Rev. Carl J. Hood

Judicial Vicar
Rev. Michael P. Joyce
(901) 373-1207

Clergy Personnel Board Director
Rev. Msgr. Peter Buchignani, V.G.
(901) 756-1213

Ecclesiastical Notary
Marianna Beaty
(901) 373-1217

Presbyteral Council/College of Consultors
Msgr. Peter P. Buchignani, V.G., Vice-Chair
(901) 756-1213

Director of Diocesan Ecumenism
Rev. Valentine N. Handwerker
(901) 725-2700

Diocesan Archivist
Rev. Richard Mickey
(901) 373-1218

Diocesan Director of Technical Services
Kathy Saba
(901) 373-1248
Email: kathy.saba@cc.cdom.org

Karin Starnes, Tech Support Analyst
(901) 373-1271
Email: Karin.starnes@cc.cdom.org

Director of Office of Child & Youth Protection
Dr. James B. Latta, D.Min.
(901) 359-2027

Victims Assistance Coordinator
Shane Lee
(901) 652-4066

Administrative Assistants
Marianna Beaty
(901) 373-1217
Debbie Salvaggio
(901) 373-1216