RAPID CITY, South Dakota, MAY 26, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Monsignor Robert Gruss has been appointed bishop of Rapid City, South Dakota.
Monsignor Gruss, 55, had been serving as the rector of Sacred Heart Cathedral in Davenport, Iowa.
Robert Gruss was born in Texarkana, Texas, in 1955 and ordained a priest in 1994. He studied at the University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome and served as vice rector and director of human formation at the Pontifical North American College in Vatican City from 2007-2010.
Bishop-designate Gruss succeeds Bishop Blase Cupich, 62, who was moved to the Diocese of Spokane, Washington, almost a year ago.
The Diocese of Rapid City has some 30,000 Catholics, served by just over 50 priests and 60 religious.
Wisconsin
Benedict XVI also appointed an auxiliary bishop to the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Bishop-designate Donald Hying will assist Archbishop Jerome Listecki.
Donald Hying was born in West Allis, Wisconsin, in 1963 and ordained in 1989. He is currently rector of St. Francis de Sales Seminary in Milwaukee.
The Archdiocese of Milwaukee has some 657,000 Catholics served by about 650 priests.
India
The Pope also granted the confirmation requested of him in accordance with Canon 153 of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches by Bishop George Alencherry of Thuckalay of the Syro-Malabars.
The 66-year-old bishop was elected Tuesday as major archbishop of the Archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly of the Syro-Malabars, India.
George Alencherry was born in Thuruthy, India, in 1945, and ordained a priest in 1972. He received episcopal ordination in 1997.
