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Shreveport bishop chosen to lead Baton Rouge diocese

June 26, 2018 CNA Daily News 1

Vatican City, Jun 26, 2018 / 07:11 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Vatican announced Tuesday Pope Francis’ appointment of Bishop Michael Gerard Duca, of the northern Louisiana diocese of Shreveport, to be the newest bishop of Baton Rouge.

Duca, 66, who led the Shreveport diocese since 2008, will take over in Baton Rouge from Bishop Robert William Muench, whose resignation the pope accepted June 26 after Muench turned 75 in December.

In a June 26 statement on his retirement, Muench said his 16 years as head of the Baton Rouge diocese were “a profound honor and joy,” and that he will forever hold the clergy, religious, seminarians, and lay Catholics of the diocese “deep in heart and mind, in spirit and prayer.”

Bishop Duca, as his replacement, will be welcomed “with open hearts and open arms,” Muench continued, noting the Louisiana bishop’s training in the areas of theology, spirituality, canon law, psychology, seminary ministry, health care, ecumenism and administration.

“By nature, person, character, disposition, education and experience, Bishop Duca is eminently qualified for this position as one who radiates the love and joy of Jesus Christ,” he said, also extending his personal support.

Duca’s installation as the sixth bishop of Baton Rouge will take place Aug. 24 at St. Joseph Cathedral.

Born June 5, 1952 in Dallas, Texas, Duca studied at the city’s Holy Trinity Seminary before being ordained a priest for the diocese April 29, 1978.

From 1994-1996 he studied for a license in canon law at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, also called the “Angelicum,” in Rome.

In addition to his ministry at various Dallas-area parishes, Duca has served as the diocese’s vocations director, the director of ongoing formation of priests, and as a campus minister at Southern Methodist University.

He has also been a member of the diocese’s personnel board, priests’ council, and College of Consultors. In 2004 he was given the title of monsignor by Pope John Paul II.

Duca was rector of Holy Trinity Seminary in Dallas from 1996 until his appointment as bishop of Shreveport in 2008. For two years he served as president of the National Association of College Seminaries.

The bishop is currently a member of the United States and Louisiana bishops’ conferences and was formerly president of the Louisiana Interchurch Conference.

He is a fourth degree Knight of Columbus and a member of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.

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Pope Francis taps Italian bishop to head Vatican treasury

June 26, 2018 CNA Daily News 0

Vatican City, Jun 26, 2018 / 05:27 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Vatican announced Tuesday that Pope Francis has accepted the retirement of Cardinal Domenico Calcagno as head of the body managing the Vatican’s assets and real estate holdings, appointing Italian Bishop Nunzio Galantino to take his place.

Calcagno, who turned 75 in February, was appointed APSA’s secretary by Benedict XVI in 2007, and was later named its president by Pope Francis in 2011.

For a year before that appointment, the cardinal was also part of a commission tasked with the supervision of the Institute of Religious Works (IOR), known as the “Vatican Bank.” Though he was appointed for a five-year term, he was removed by Francis before that term was up.

Calcagno, who at one point was investigated for embezzlement in his previous diocese of Savona,  stepped down after reaching the typical age of retirement for bishops, who are required to submit their resignations after their 75th birthday.

APSA is the office that handles the Vatican’s investment portfolio and its real estate holdings, as well as serving as the Vatican employment office and procurements agency.

The man taking Calcagno’s place is Bishop Nunzio Galantino, 69, who since December 2013 has served as secretary general of the Italian Bishops Conference, known by its Italian acronym as the “CEI.” Before that appointment, he led the small Italian diocese of Cassano all’Jonio.

Galantino is not generally seen by Italians as belonging to any specific camp in the Church. However, since stepping into his role at the CEI, he has been vocal on hot topics, such as migration and family issues, though he has at times been criticized for being too outspoken.

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