Retiring ordinary of Wheeling-Charleston…
Novus Ordo Bishop Receives Rabbi’s Blessing at Jewish Temple
Mark Edward Brennan (b. 1947) is the outgoing Novus Ordo bishop of the diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, West Virginia. He is currently in his ‘lame duck’ period, one might say: His resignation was officially accepted on May 1, but his successor, who was appointed the same day, has not yet taken over. The installation of ‘Bishop’ Evelio Menjívar-Ayala (b. 1970) is scheduled for July 2.
This past Friday, on June 5, 2026, the Most Rev. Mark Brennan was in attendance at the Shabbat Shalom Friday evening service at Temple Shalom in Wheeling, to be honored by the presiding rabbi, Joshua B. Lief.
At the 45:05 min mark of the video recording provided by the temple, Lief welcomes and begins to speak about ‘Bp.’ Brennan. He identifies him as “my dear friend” and as “a valued friend and colleague”. And indeed, the two have somewhat of a history in terms of ‘interfaith’ collaboration and such:
- Local Religious Leaders Reflect On Bishop Brennan’s Tenure (May 2, 2026)
- Temple Shalom remembers Holocaust victims (Apr. 21, 2026)
- Rabbi Joshua Lief Is Building Bonds Between Faiths (Feb. 25, 2026)
- About 200 Gather To Pray for Israel During Interfaith Service at Temple Shalom in Wheeling (2023)
- Bishop Mark Brennan, Rabbi Joshua Lief give thanks in a special way (2021)
At the 48:33 timestamp, Lief says to Brennan: “It is my honor at this time to invite you to come on up and join me before the ark as on behalf of our congregation we offer you a blessing as you head towards your emeritus status to come”:
This blessing is not being kept quiet. In fact, the diocesan Facebook page happily advertised it:
Even if there was nothing in the blessing itself that was unorthodox or controversial, that is beside the point. The point is that it is the blessing of a false religion. No, Lief’s is not the religion of the Old Testament. That religion ended 2000 years ago, definitively with the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD.
Brennan was ‘blessed’ by an official representative of the sect of apostate Talmudists, a religion that has its roots in the solemn rejection of Jesus Christ. It is, in other words, most literally an anti-Christ religion.
Brennan was (invalidly) consecrated a bishop in 2017, a few days before his 70th birthday. A video of the ceremony is available here. Considering that the canonical retirement age is 75, this move must have raised some eyebrows. Why was Brennan made a bishop so late in life? We do not know the answer.
What we do know is that the local unbelieving Jewish community has come to really appreciate him, and it’s not because he preached Jesus Christ to them.
Image source: YouTube (screenshot)
License: fair use
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