Today the
Vatican announced
two episcopal appointments for American dioceses; one for the Diocese of
Buffalo, New York, and one for the Archdiocese of Denver:
Vatican City, 29 May 2012 (VIS) -
The Holy Father:
- Appointed Bishop Richard J. Malone of Portland, U.S.A., as bishop of Buffalo (area 16,511,
population 1,621,000, Catholics 716,000, priests 425, permanent deacons 127,
religious 1,075), U.S.A. He succeeds Bishop Edward U. Kmiec, whose resignation
from the pastoral care of the same diocese the Holy Father accepted, upon
having reached the age limit.
- Appointed Bishop Samuel J. Aquila of Fargo, U.S.A., as archbishop of Denver (area 101.279, population 3,328,000, Catholics
549,325, priests 306, permanent deacons 184, religious 203), U.S.A.
Bishop Aquila will, of course, be assuming the position left
vacant when Archbishop Charles Chaput was
appointed archbishop of Philadelphia last summer. Aquila, who was ordained a
priest for the Denver archdiocese in 1976, has served as bishop of Fargo since
2001.
CWR
interviewed Bishop Aquila last summer and discussed, among other things,
Aquila’s controversial reordering of the sacraments of initiation in the Diocese
of Fargo. In
March Bishop Aquila told Catholic News Agency that Pope Benedict had
indicated his approval of the reordering during Aquila’s recent ad limina visit
to Rome.
Today CNA has a video interview with Bishop Aquila, in which he discusses his new assignment: "I never, ever dreamed that I would ever return here. ... And
now in the Father's providential plan and in his love, I'm now the
archbishop.”