WASHINGTON, D.C., DEC. 15, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI has named Bishop George Niederauer of Salt Lake City, Utah, to be the archbishop of San Francisco.
Archbishop-designate Niederauer, 69, succeeds Archbishop William Levada, who is now prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
George Hugh Niederauer was born in Los Angeles. He studied at St. John’s Seminary, Camarillo, California, and was ordained a priest for Los Angeles in April 1962.
After parish assignments, Father Niederauer was appointed professor of English at St. John’s Seminary College where he also served as spiritual director.
In 1979, he became spiritual director at St. John’s Theologate. He became rector there in 1987 and served in that post until 1992. From 1992 to 1994, he was co-director of the Cardinal Manning House of Prayer for Priests.
The then Monsignor Niederauer was appointed bishop of Salt Lake City in November 1994 and received episcopal ordination the following January.
Archbishop-designate Niederauer holds a Ph.D. in English literature from the University of Southern California. In 2004 he received the Gandhi Peace Award from the Gandhi Alliance for Peace.
The San Francisco Archdiocese has 422,000 Catholics within a total population of nearly 1.7 million.
Meanwhile, the Pope accepted the resignation of Bishop Thomas Flanagan, auxiliary bishop of San Antonio, Texas, effective today. Bishop Flanagan is 75.
