Denver Auxiliary Moved to Nebraska

LINCOLN, Nebraska, SEPT. 17, 2012  (Zenit.org).- The Vatican announced Friday that Auxiliary Bishop James Conley of Denver, Colorado, was named the bishop of Lincoln.

Bishop Conley, 57, succeeds Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz, 77, who retired for reasons of age.

The Diocese of Lincoln has some 95,000 Catholics, served by about 150 priests and around 225 religious.

Bishop Conley noted in an interview with the Denver Catholic Register that both Denver and Lincoln share a rich harvest of priestly vocations.

"Both dioceses are known for their fidelity and their love for Holy Mother Church," the bishop said. "The other big similarity is the fact that both the Archdiocese of Denver and the Diocese of Lincoln have experienced a tremendous increase in vocations to the priesthood. In Lincoln we have 44 seminarians studying for the priesthood in a diocese of just over 90,000 Catholics -- that’s tremendous. Lincoln always has among the highest number of seminarians per Catholic population in the country and Denver has that same distinction. They are both enjoying a rich harvest of vocations."