BisonCatholic Week Keynote Address by Bishop Andrew Cozzens

Bishop Cozzens, who served as Auxiliary Bishop for the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis from 2013 to 2021, was born August 3, 1968. He is the son of Jack and Judy Cozzens and the youngest of three children. Bishop Cozzens graduated from Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, where he experienced a deepening of the faith through the Catholic Charismatic Renewal. During a period of discernment after college, Bishop Cozzens served as a traveling missionary to young people around the country with Twin Cities-based NET Ministries. During his first month as a missionary, his NET team served in the Diocese of Crookston putting on retreats in the parishes and schools throughout the diocese. After serving with NET Ministries, he joined the
Companions of Christ, a fraternity of diocesan priests in Saint Paul, and worked for Saint Paul’s Outreach leading college Bible study groups.

After his year of discernment, he was accepted into the Saint Paul Seminary. Four years later, in 1997, he was ordained to the priesthood for the  Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. Bishop Cozzens served as Parochial Vicar at the Cathedral of Saint Paul and then Faribault Catholic Community (now Divine Mercy) before being sent to Rome for doctoral studies. Upon his return to Minnesota, Bishop Cozzens served as a Professor of Sacramental Theology and a Formator at the Saint Paul Seminary from 2006 until 2013.

In the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, Bishop Cozzens served as Vicar for Catholic Education and supervised the Archdiocesan Synod Process while overseeing the offices of Latino Ministry, Evangelization, and Marriage, Family and Life. He currently serves as the chair of the board for NET Ministries, St. Paul’s Outreach, The Institute for Priestly Formation and The Seminary Formation Council. Additionally, Bishop Cozzens is the chair of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis where on behalf of the bishops he is leading a three-year National Eucharistic Revival that will begin in June of 2022.