Archbishop-designate Burke will succeed now-Cardinal Justin Rigali, who was appointed archbishop of Philadelphia last summer. The Vatican press office made the official announcement today.
Raymond Burke was born in Richland Center, Wisconsin, on June 30, 1948. He studied at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., and the Gregorian University in Rome.
Ordained a priest of the La Crosse Diocese in 1975, he was appointed bishop of La Crosse on Dec. 10, 1994, and ordained Jan. 6, 1995.
The Archdiocese of St. Louis has 555,000 Catholics in a total population of nearly 2.2 million.
