Monsignor Daniel J. Seiker Named Executive Director
Monsignor Daniel J. Seiker, a priest of the Diocese of Lincoln, will begin his service as Executive Director of the Shrine on October 5, 2026.
The Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe is pleased to announce the appointment of Monsignor Daniel J. Seiker (SEE-ker) as its new Executive Director. A priest of the Diocese of Lincoln, Monsignor Seiker will assume the office on October 5, 2026.
As Executive Director, Monsignor Seiker will lead the administration and operations of the Shrine, overseeing its staff and its service to pilgrims. He succeeds Mr. Gregory Marco, who served as Interim Executive Director during this period of transition. The Shrine community is deeply grateful to Mr. Marco for his faithful service.
Monsignor Seiker remains a priest of the Diocese of Lincoln and will serve at the Shrine under a three-year agreement between the Diocese and the Shrine, which may be renewed. He comes to the Shrine at an important moment in its history, as the Shrine begins a five-year preparation for the 500th anniversary of the apparitions of Our Lady of Guadalupe at Tepeyac in 2031.
A New Bond with the Diocese of Lincoln
Monsignor Seiker currently serves at the Cathedral of the Risen Christ in Lincoln, Nebraska. He will remain a priest of the Diocese of Lincoln while serving at the Shrine under a three-year agreement between the Diocese and the Shrine, which may be renewed.
Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke, Founder of the Shrine, expressed his gratitude for Monsignor Seiker’s appointment and for the generosity of the Diocese of Lincoln:
“The Shrine is blessed to have this new bond with the Diocese of Lincoln. My heartfelt thanks to Bishop Conley for permitting Monsignor Seiker to present himself for this office, and to Monsignor Seiker for offering himself in service to Our Lord and His Virgin Mother, Our Lady of Guadalupe, at her Shrine in La Crosse. May Our Lord, through the intercession of His Ever-Perfect Mother, grant Monsignor Seiker an efficacious priestly service at the Shrine.”
Bishop James D. Conley of Lincoln noted the experience and preparation Monsignor Seiker brings to his new responsibilities.
“Monsignor Seiker has a rich academic background, particularly in the field of canon law, having served as Judicial Vicar for many years. I released him to serve as college chaplain at Wyoming Catholic College on two different occasions and he was well received by the students. Monsignor Seiker has a great facility with languages, particularly Latin, and is able to offer the Traditional Latin Mass, which will be very helpful at the Shrine.”
Continuing the Founding Vision of the Shrine
In accepting the appointment, Monsignor Seiker expressed his gratitude to Bishop Conley for allowing him to undertake the new mission.
“I am grateful to His Excellency, Bishop James Conley, for encouraging and allowing me to take on the responsibilities of Executive Director at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe. I thank him for his generosity in allowing one of his priests to take up this mission.”
Monsignor Seiker also spoke of his desire to continue the spiritual mission for which Cardinal Burke founded the Shrine: providing pilgrims with a place of prayer, rest, and encounter with Our Lady, who always leads her children to her Divine Son.
“I hope to continue and build on the founding vision of the Shrine, to welcome pilgrims to ‘come away … and rest awhile’ (Mk 6:31) and to serve their spiritual needs, so that by encountering Our Lady of Guadalupe and her motherly blessings, they may be drawn closer to Our Lord Jesus Christ and to the Catholic Church, and return to their homes and parishes refreshed in grace and inspiration.”
That mission takes on particular significance as the Church approaches the fifth centenary of Our Lady’s apparitions to Saint Juan Diego in December 1531.
“We are in a time of grace leading up to the 500th anniversary of the apparitions of Our Lady at Tepeyac,” Monsignor Seiker said. He emphasized the continuing relevance of Our Lady’s message and miraculous image in calling people to “a deeper faith, devotion, and apostolic action” and in bringing the fire of divine love to a world in need.
Looking Toward the 500th Anniversary
The appointment begins a new chapter in the life of the Shrine as it prepares for the Guadalupe Jubilee of 2031.
Since the dedication of the Shrine Church on July 31, 2008, the Shrine has welcomed pilgrims from throughout the United States and abroad. Today, approximately 100,000 pilgrims visit each year to participate in the Holy Mass and the Sacrament of Penance, to pray before the Shrine’s image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and to entrust themselves and their intentions to her maternal intercession.
The Shrine is affiliated with both the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major in Rome and the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City, bonds which unite the Shrine in La Crosse in a particular way with the universal Church and with the great sanctuary at Tepeyac.
As Monsignor Seiker prepares to begin his service, the Shrine invites pilgrims, benefactors, and friends to pray for him and for the mission entrusted to his care.
May Our Lady of Guadalupe guide and protect Monsignor Seiker in his priestly service, and may she continue to make her Shrine a place where her children encounter her maternal love and are drawn ever more deeply to the Sacred Heart of her Divine Son.
