Andrew H. Cozzens

Andrew Cozzens was born on August 3, 1968, in Denver, Colorado to Jack and Judy Cozzens.[1] Andrew Cozzens attended Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, graduating in 1991.[2] During his time at Benedictine College, he helped found the college's pro-life student group and a charismatic prayer group. In 1990, he was arrested several times for blocking access to abortion clinics and served several weeks in jail.[3][4] After a period of discernment, including a time serving as a missionary with NET Ministries in 1991-1992, he entered the Saint Paul Seminary School of Divinity.

Cozzens was ordained a priest in 1997 for the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis and served as the associate pastor at the Cathedral of St. Paul from 1997–2000 and at Divine Mercy Parish from 2000 to 2002. He earned a S.T.L. from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, Angelicum in Rome, Italy in 2002 and began full time doctoral studies in 2002. He earned his S.T.D. in 2008 with a dissertation entitled Imago vivens Iesu Christi sponsi Ecclesiae : the priest as a living image of Jesus Christ the Bridegroom of the Church through the evangelical counsels. In 2006, he began as an assistant professor of sacramental theology and the director of liturgy at the Saint Paul Seminary School of Divinity.[5] He remained there until he was named a bishop.

Cozzens was appointed titular Bishop of Bisica and an auxiliary for the Archbishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis on October 11, 2013 by Pope Francis.[6] He was consecrated on December 9, 2013.[7]

Cozzens and Lee Piché, both auxiliary bishops of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, were involved in an investigation of misconduct against Archbishop John Nienstedt. The results of the investigation were delivered to Carlo Maria Viganò, the papal nuncio at the time, and no action was taken at the time. Looking back at the investigation, Cozzens said that it was "doomed to fail" and different measures were needed for investigations against bishops.[8]

In response to the McCarrick scandal Cozzens has advocated for a national review board made up of both clerical and lay members to investigate allegations of misconduct against bishops.[8]

From August–December 2018, he served as the interim rector for the Saint Paul Seminary School of Divinity after Msgr. Aloysius R. Callaghan retired on August 15 and before Fr. Joseph C. Taphorn began on January 1, 2019.