Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Bishop Richard G. Lennon from the pastoral governance of the Diocese of Cleveland, Ohio, and has named Bishop Daniel E. Thomas of Toledo as the Apostolic Administrator of the diocese until the installation of a new bishop.
Bishop Lennon was installed as the 10th bishop of the Diocese of Cleveland on May 15, 2006. Benedict XVI appointed Bishop Lennon on April 4, 2006.
A native of the Boston area, Bishop Lennon was ordained to the priesthood in May 1973 in the Archdiocese of Boston where he served as a parish priest, Fire Department Chaplain, an Assistant for Canonical Affairs, and Rector of St. John’s Seminary. Ordained as an Auxiliary Bishop in the Archdiocese of Boston on September 14, 2001, he was also called upon to serve as Apostolic Administrator for the Archdiocese from December of 2002 to July of 2003.
The Diocese of Cleveland comprises 3,414 square miles that include eight counties in the north-central part of the state of Ohio. It has a total population of 2,774,113 people of which 682,948 or 24%, are Catholic.
