Early life

Andrew Harmon Cozzens was born on August 3, 1968, in Denver, Colorado, to Jack and Judy Cozzens. After graduating from high school, Cozzens entered Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, in 1991. While in college, Cozzens helped found an anti-abortion student group and a charismatic prayer group. In 1990, Cozzens was arrested several times for blocking access to facilities that provided abortion services, at one point spending ten days in jail.^[1][2][3]

After finishing at Benedictine, he spent time traveling across the United States serving as a missionary for NET Ministries. In 1992, he joined Companions of Christ in St. Paul, Minnesota, and worked leading bible study groups for college students. Cozzens entered the Saint Paul Seminary School of Divinity in St. Paul in 1993.^[3][4]

Priesthood

Cozzens was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis by Archbishop Harry J. Flynn on May 31, 1996, at St. Mary's Chapel in Saint Paul Seminary.^[5][6] The archdiocese assigned Cozzens as an associate pastor at the following parishes in Minnesota:

• Cathedral of Saint Paul in St. Paul (1997 to 2000)
• Divine Mercy in Faribault, Minnesota (2000 to 2002)^[3]

In 2003, Cozzens traveled to Rome to attend the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, where he earned a Licentiate of Sacred Theology that same year. Cozzens earned his Doctorate of Sacred Theology from St. Thomas in 2006 with a dissertation entitled Imago Vivens Iesu Christi Sponsi Ecclesiæ: The Priest as a Living Image of Jesus Christ, Bridegroom of the Church, through the Evangelical Counsels.^[7]

After returning from Rome, Cozzens was appointed as an assistant professor of sacramental theology and director of liturgy at the Saint Paul Seminary.^[8]

Auxiliary Bishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis

Cozzens was appointed titular bishop of Bisica and as an auxiliary bishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis on October 11, 2013, by Pope Francis. He was consecrated a bishop at the Cathedral of Saint Paul on December 9, 2013, by Archbishop John Nienstedt, with Flynn and Bishop Paul Sirba acting as co-consecrators.^[5][6]

Cozzens was part of an archdiocesan team that in 2014 investigated allegations of misconduct on the part of Nienstedt. Cozzens in 2022 remarked on the investigation:

"It was doomed to fail. We did not have enough objectivity or experience with such investigations. Nor did we have authority to act. Throughout our efforts, we did not know where we could turn for assistance, because there was no meaningful structure to address allegations against bishops."^[9]

At the June 2021 meeting of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Cozzens, as chair of the Evangelization Committee, announced a nationwide Eucharistic Revival to begin in 2022. He said that the revival would focus on small local units such as families. The organization would be in three levels: parish, diocesan, and national. He said that the goal was to foster new and existing devotion to the Eucharist.^[10]

Bishop of Crookston

On October 18, 2021, Pope Francis named Cozzens as bishop of the Diocese of Crookston, Minnesota.^[11][12] He was installed there on December 6, 2021.^[13][6]

In response to the sexual abuse allegations surrounding former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, Cozzens in 2022 advocated the establishment of a national review board, composed of clerics and lay members, to investigate allegations of misconduct against American bishops.^[9] Cozzens serves as the chair of the board of the National Eucharistic Congress.^[14]