DETROIT -- When Chris Battersby looked on from the congregation as bishops from across the United States were laying their hand on his twin brother, the only thing he could think was how surreal it all felt.

The two are the youngest of nine children, but as of Jan. 25, his twin brother Gerry is referred to as Bishop Battersby, an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Detroit.

“It was a wonderful, moving ceremony,” Chris Battersby said. “It’s cool to see my twin brother being a bishop. It’s also a little surreal, but it’s a wonderful thing to see.”

The families of Bishops Gerard W. Battersby and Robert J. Fisher looked on from the front pews of the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Detroit, as Archbishop Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States, read the proclamation from Pope Francis that made Bishops Battersby and Fisher the newest members of the episcopate.

“Words can’t express all the feelings we have, we feel blessed,” said Trudy Fisher, mother of Bishop Fisher, who recalls the days when young Robert who come home after being an altar boy and play Mass in the house. “It was a beautiful service, and we’re so proud of him.”

After Bishops Battersby and Fisher were handed their mandates from the Apostolic See, the congregation erupted into applause, saluting the two new shepherds of the Catholic Church.

“I think it’s incredible, to know both of them and feel that power of the Holy Spirit,” seminarian Mark Livingston said after Mass. Livingston met Bishop Fisher during vicariate meetings when Livingston was an intern at Our Lady of Sorrows Parish in Farmington Hills and then-Fr. Fisher was pastor of the National Shrine of the Little Flower in Royal Oak.

“Bishop Fisher is just a gentle, kind man, who’ll do great work as a bishop,” Livingston said. “Bishop Battersby played such an important role in my formation process at the seminary. He has a great ability to discern, he’s a man of prayer, a man of the people. Just a terrific candidate for a bishop. He’s so approachable.”

Many people from across the Archdiocese of Detroit, and the state of Michigan, gathered at the cathedral to celebrate the episcopal ordination of these two men. Though many were surprised by the news Bishops Battersby and Fisher were chosen to be successor to the apostles, some felt they always had that special gift within them.

“It’s just amazing to see my childhood friend, Bob Fisher, be ordained a bishop,” said Maryanne Smigulec of St. Joseph Parish in East Jordan, Mich., who attended St. Bede Elementary School in Southfield with Bishop Fisher.

“I can’t believe he’s a bishop,” Smigulec said with a grin on her face. “He’s always been a special person, he used to play priest in grade school; it was always a calling. From where I live, this is huge, so I just had to be here.”

Several bishops from around the country were there to welcome their two new brother bishops, including Bishop Francis Y. Kalabat from the Detroit-based Chaldean Catholic Eparchy of St. Thomas the Apostle.

“I know both of them,” Bishop Kalabat said. “I got to know Bishop Fisher because the year I came into the seminary was the year he was ordained a priest. With Bishop Battersby, I knew him at the seminary, working together for a full year in school. We were even lecturing neighbors.”

As for advice for the two new bishops, Bishop Kalabat had a simple message: keep focused on Jesus.

“Bishop Fisher (at the end of Mass) said it right, keep the focus on Jesus,” Bishop Kalabat said. “We’re called to give Jesus, and you can’t give what you don’t have. We need to receive Christ, be transformed by Christ, so we in turn gave give Christ.”

For the people that have known the two men for their entire lives, the day was not about losing a family member to the Church, but an opportunity to share the men they love with the archdiocesan community.

Gerry Battersby, son of Chris Battersby and Bishop Battersby’s nephew, still sees Bishop Battersby as his Uncle Gerry.

“I’ve always been proud, always knew he was capable," Gerry Battersby said about his namesake. "They picked the best people to be stewards for the Church. I think I don’t realize how big of a deal it is right now, but it’ll hit me later. There is a little sense of loss in the last couple of years (knowing we have to share him). But we know he’s now part of something bigger than himself. We miss him, but get to share him.”

The news may have come as a surprise to many of Bishops Battersby’s and Fisher’s friends, but for some, they always felt these two men were destined for great things in the service of the Church.

Archbishop Paul F. Russell, apostolic nuncio to Turkey and Turkmenistan, met Bishop Fisher at the CYO camp in Port Sanilac in 1979 and the two have been friends since. Archbishop Russell was a seminarian from Boston at the time, and Bob Fisher wasn’t even in the seminary. But right away, Archbishop Russell knew there was something about him.

“When I was ordained a bishop, I had my chaplain, and I asked Fr. Fisher to carry the miter in the procession, when the miter would be presented to me,” Archbishop Russell said, “because I thought he’d make an excellent, wonderful bishop. And sure enough, the Holy Father decided along those lines. The Holy Spirit, working through the Holy Father, decided upon these two wonderful men to lead the Church.”

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For more stories about the ordination and background of the Archdiocese of Detroit's new auxiliary bishops, Bishop Robert Fisher and Bishop Gerard Battersby, check out The Michigan Catholic's special section.