OTTAWA, JAN. 11, 2004 (Zenit.org).- John Paul II named Bishop Raymond Roussin of Victoria as archbishop of Vancouver in British Columbia.
Bishop Roussin, 64, will succeed Archbishop Adam Exner, who reached the mandatory age of retirement of 75.
Archbishop-elect Roussin has been bishop of Victoria since March 1999. He had been named coadjutor of Victoria in September 1998. He was first named a bishop in 1995 to Gravelbourg, Saskatchewan, a position he held until that diocese’s dissolution in 1998.
Born in 1939 in Saint Boniface, Manitoba, he graduated in theology from the University of Freiberg, Switzerland, and was ordained to the priesthood in 1970 as a member of the Congregation of Marianists. He taught for many years in Quebec, Manitoba and the United States before becoming superior of his order from 1980-86.
He was also president of the Western region of the Canadian Religious Conference from 1984-1986.
The Vancouver Archdiocese has a Catholic population of 402,310 in 94 parishes and missions, served by 89 diocesan priests, 87 religious order priests, one permanent deacon, 145 religious sisters and brothers.
In another appointment last week, the Pope named Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Naumann of St. Louis as coadjutor archbishop of Kansas City in Kansas.<br>
A coadjutor enjoys the right of succession when the incumbent retires or dies.
Joseph Naumann was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on June 4, 1949. He was ordained a priest of the St. Louis Archdiocese in May 1975. He was named vicar general of the archdiocese in 1994 and appointed auxiliary bishop in July 1997.
The Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas has a Catholic population of 200,000 in a total population of nearly 1.2 million.
Archbishop James Keleher, 72, has been head of the archdiocese since September 1993.
