Vatican City, Jul 1, 2025 / 13:47 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV has appointed Bishop Mark Rivituso, auxiliary of St. Louis, as metropolitan archbishop of Mobile, Alabama.
Rivituso succeeds Archbishop Thomas Rodi, who led the Archdiocese of Mobile beginning in 2008. Rodi submitted his resignation letter to Pope Francis in March 2024 after turning 75.
The archbishop-elect on July 1 said he is grateful to Pope Leo for his appointment and feels blessed to follow Rodi as a “good shepherd” for the archdiocese.
“I rely upon the good shepherd, Jesus, to help me to truly be the bishop all of you need me to be,” Rivituso said at a Tuesday press conference. “I will labor with the shepherding love of Jesus for all of you because I want to love you as Christ loves.”
“I have a big smile on my face because every time I have an opportunity to truly serve others, that’s truly a blessing,” he added.
Rivituso celebrated Mass on July 1 at the Cathedral-Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Mobile in thanksgiving for his appointment.
The archbishop-elect received his episcopal consecration and was made an auxiliary for the Archdiocese of St. Louis and titular of Turuzi in 2017.
Ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of St. Louis in 1988 after completing his seminary training at Cardinal Glennon College and Kenrick Seminary, Rivituso served in several parishes across the city.
He was parish vicar of St. Ambrose in St. Louis from 1988 to 1990, of Immaculate Conception in Dardenne Prairie from 1990 to 1993, and of St. Jerome in Bissell Hills from 1996 to 2004. Between 2008 and 2013, he was parish priest of Curé of Ars in Shrewsbury.
Across the St. Louis Archdiocese, Rivituso served as a teacher at St. Dominic High School in O’Fallon from 1988 to 1993, an administrator of St. Margaret of Scotland from 1993 to 1994, a member of the metropolitan tribunal from 1993 to 1994 and 1996 to 2004, the judicial vicar of the court of second instance from 2005 to 2011, and the vicar general of the court from 2011 to 2018.
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