MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin, NOV. 15, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI appointed Bishop Jerome Listecki of La Crosse, Wisconsin, as the archbishop of Milwaukee.
A Vatican communiqué announced Friday evening that Archbishop Listecki, 60, will succeed Archbishop Timothy Dolan, who was named to the New York Archdiocese last February.
The newly elected prelate stated, «I am humbled by my selection» and «will do my best to fulfill the confidence His Holiness Benedict XVI has placed in me.»
Born in Chicago, Illinois, Jerome Listecki was ordained to the priesthood in 1975 for that archdiocese.
He served as pastor, professor and military chaplain before being appointed auxiliary bishop of Chicago in 2000. Bishop Listecki was named to lead the La Crosse Diocese in 2004.
He has served the bishops’ conference as a member of the Subcommittee on Pastoral Care of Migrants, Refugees, and Travelers.
The Milwaukee Archdiocese has some 680,000 Catholics, served by 347 diocesan priests and 322 religious priests, 191 permanent deacons and 1583 religious sisters.
Fort Wayne-South Bend
Also on Friday, Benedict XVI accepted the resignation of Bishop John D’Arcy of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana, for reasons of age, and named Bishop Kevin Rhoades of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, as his successor.
Kevin Rhoades was born in Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania, in 1957, and was ordained a priest in 1983 for the Diocese of Harrisburg. He served as vice chancellor, the bishop’s secretary, professor and rector of Mount St. Mary’s Seminary before his episcopal appointment in 2004.
Bishop Rhoades has been serving as president of the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference. He has also been working for the U.S. bishops’ conference as Chairman of the Task Force on Health Care and Member of the Committee of Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs.
The Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend has some 160,000 Catholics, served by 249 priests, 18 permanent deacons and 847 religious.
