LANCASTER, England, MAY 4, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Coadjutor Bishop Michael Campbell became the head of the Lancaster diocese after Benedict XVI accepted the resignation of Bishop Patrick O’Donoghue for reasons of age.
Bishop Campbell, 68, was coadjutor of the Diocese of Lancaster since March 2008, and immediately succeeded Bishop O’Donoghue after the prelate’s resignation was confirmed by the Pope on Friday.
Michael Campbell was born in Larne, Northern Ireland. He entered the Augustinian order in 1962, and was ordained a priest in 1971.
In 2008, he became the first Augustinian friar to be ordained a bishop in England since the 16th century Reformation.
The prelate’s episcopal motto is: “Ecce nova facio omnia” — Behold I make all things new.
The Diocese of Lancaster has some 110,000 Catholics, 108 parishes and 87 Catholic schools and colleges.
