This morning
the Vatican announced four episcopal appointments,
all of which involve North American dioceses.
As Rocco Palmo reported yesterday, Bishop William Lori of
Bridgeport will become the next archbishop of Baltimore, succeeding Cardinal
Edwin O’Brien.
Msgr. David Malloy will succeed Bishop Thomas Doran as head of the
Diocese of Rockford, Illinois.
Fr. Gregory Parkes will take over the Diocese of
Pensacola-Tallahassee, succeeding Bishop John Ricard.
And Bishop Christian Lepine, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese
of Montreal, will take over as metropolitan of that archdiocese, succeeding
Cardinal Jean-Claude Turcotte.
Palmo has details on the new bishops and their sees here.
The full English text of the Vatican announcement is below:
Vatican City, 20 March 2012 (VIS)
- The Holy Father:
- Appointed Bishop William E. Lori
of Bridgeport, U.S.A., as archbishop of Baltimore (area 12,430, population
3,119,000, Catholics 499,529, priests 543, permanent deacons 158, religious
1,249), U.S.A.
- Appointed Msgr. David J. Malloy
of the clergy of the archdiocese of Milwaukee, U.S.A., pastor of the parish of
St. Francis de Sales at Lake Geneva, as bishop of Rockford (area 16,717,
population 1,665,000, Catholics 451,509, priests 288, permanent deacons 136,
religious 184), U.S.A. The bishop-elect was born in Milwaukee in 1956 and
ordained a priest in 1983. He studied in Rome then served for a number of years
in the diplomatic service of the Holy See before becoming an official of the
Prefecture of the Pontifical Household. From 2006 to 2011 he was secretary
general of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. He succeeds Bishop
Thomas G. Doran, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese
the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.
- Appointed Bishop Christian
Lepine, auxiliary of the archdiocese of Montreal, Canada, as metropolitan
archbishop of the same archdiocese (area 1,103, population 2,574,000, Catholics
1,640,000, priests 1,163, permanent deacons 100, religious 4,158). He succeeds
Cardinal Jean-Claude Turcotte, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the
same archdiocese the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.
- Appointed Fr. Gregory L. Parkes of
the clergy of the diocese of Orlando, U.S.A., vicar general, chancellor for
canonical affairs and pastor of the parish of Corpus Christi at Celebration, as
bishop of Pensacola-Tallahassee (area 36,724, population 1,381,566, Catholics
74,868, priests 94, permanent deacons 67, religious 49), U.S.A. The
bishop-elect was born in Mineola, U.S.A. in 1964 and ordained a priest in 1999.
Before becoming a priest he worked in the banking sector. He studied in Rome
and, since ordination, has worked in pastoral care in the diocese of Orlando.