Posted on 03/20/2012 1:46:47 PM PDT by NYer
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Pope Benedict XVI appointed new bishops on March 20 for the dioceses of Baltimore, Md., Rockford, Ill., and Tallahassee-Pensacola, Fla.
The Pope filled the position for the oldest U.S. archdiocese of Baltimore on Tuesday with Bishop William E. Lori of Bridgeport, Conn., who serves as chairman of the U.S. bishops' committee on religious freedom.
Monsignor David Malloy, former general secretary of the U.S. bishops' conference, will take over the apostolic duties of the Diocese of Rockford, Ill. while Father Gregory Parkes will become bishop of Tallahassee-Pensacola.
“I look forward to the opportunity,” Bishop-designate Malloy said during a March 20 press conference.
He said that as bishop, he will especially focus on promoting vocations and continue to work for better catechisis of the faithful, although he is already very impressed with the diocese's devotion to the sacraments and service of the poor.
Bishop-designate Malloy said that fostering vocations to the priesthood is especially important because priests are very often “the most immediate impact” of the Church.
Improvements to education programs will be of great importance to his role as bishop because people, especially the youth, are “hungry” to know the truth of their faith.
Although there is a “heavily secular presence” in society, Bishop-designate Malloy said that there is already a “real kind if renewal” happening in the Diocese of Rockford and he hopes to continue it.
Before appointing Bishop-designate Malloy to the diocese of Rockford, Ill., Pope Benedict accepted the resignation of his predecessor, 76-year-old Bishop Thomas G. Doran, who had served the diocese as bishop since 1994.
As former Vicar General and Chancellor for Canonical Affairs in Orlando and pastor of Corpus Christi Parish in Celebration, Fla., Bishop-designate Parkes said that his appointment as bishop is “a moment you never prepare for.”
However, he believes that “when the Lord calls us to do something, He also gives us what we need to accomplish it for his Glory.”
His noted that his first duty as bishop will be meeting the faithful of Tallahassee-Pensacola along with the religious and clergy.
“I look forward to getting to know you and this beautiful and diverse diocese,” Bishop-designate Parkes said in a March 20 statement.
Bishop-designate Parkes will succeed Bishop John H. Richard, who submitted his resignation in March 2011 due to health reasons.
Archbishop Thomas Wenski, who has served as the diocese's apostolic administrator since last March, said that the Pope made “an excellent choice” in his appointment.
“Bishop-designate Parkes has served me very well,” Archbishop Wenski said in a March 20 press release, “he is a good priest and a holy man.”
Along with three new U.S. bishops, the Pope appointed Bishop Christian Lepine on March 20, formerly the Auxiliary Bishop of the archdiocese of Montreal, Canada, as the archbishop of that archdiocese.
Congratulations to all the new bishop-designates and their communities!
Pope Benedict XVI is slowly replacing the bishops who were more interested in being invited to parties by the rich and famous Catholic in Name Only than it working for the salvation of the souls of those corrupt people.
Good luck to these two new bishops and to Bishop Lori who have their work cut out for them by the likes of the Pelosis, the Kennedys, the Townsends, et. al.
We will sorely miss Bishop Lori here in CT. I wonder who his replacement will be?
A fellow freeper recently returned to the seminary, after meeting with and receiving the approval of Bishop Lori. In his heart, he had already pledged allegiance to Lori, of whom he spoke so highly. No doubt this will come as a blow.
As for the bishop's replacement, no announcement has yet been made. Keep praying!
Yes indeed! I am particularly interested in Tallahassee, which has had no functioning bishop for a very long time. The former bishop wasn’t very good to begin with, and he was ill for a long time. Abp Wenski took it over personally until a replacement suitable to him could be found...I’ve never heard of the appointee, but if Abp Wenski thinks he’s good, he’s good!
But did the Pope clear these appointments with the Obama
Administration? I’m just curious since the Obama Administration thinks it has the right to tell the Catholic Church how to run its medical insurance plans. It’s just a small step to approving priests, bishops and even theology beliefs.
Of course not.
I too am interested in what develops regarding the Pensacola-Tallahassee diocese as I live in the middle of that wasteland. Things quite literally imploded here over the last several years under Bishop Ricard as, quite honestly, he just couldn’t be bothered with matters of the faith beyond perhaps an occasional Charismatic event. After him it has been even worse. Due to the machinations of influential priests the town I live in, with five churches, has been reduced to ghost town of the faith. There is not a Mass offered here which doesn’t actually induce physical discomfort in myself due to the tasteless and sacrilegious indifference to the Sacrament which is now the norm in every parish. The Catholic Church in this city is now nothing more than a for-profit business merely operating under that historic title. The situation has left my faith in tatters I can tell you. It is sad; very, very sad. Please, I beg any reading on this forum to consider saying a prayer for us and our new bishop. We are in deep need.
No doubt this will come as a blow.It does. May God bless and protect Bishop Lori.
No doubt this will come as a blow.It does. May God bless and protect Bishop Lori.
Interesting that Bishop Lori will now be in Baltimore, the better to deal with the Obama Administration in the Church’s fight against Obama’s assault on Religious Freedom.
Interesting that Bishop Lori will now be in Baltimore, the better to deal with the Obama Administration in the Church’s fight against Obama’s assault on Religious Freedom.
Prayers for you and the good Catholics of that diocese. I was in Tallahassee (the city) a couple of weeks ago and was hard pressed to find any place to go to mass. I had a disastrous experience on my last trip there last year and I really considered not going, using the old “traveling” excuse.
However, I did go, to a big, ugly suburban church that was clearly a bit on the charismatic side, had horrible music and five million eucharistic ministers and what not. It was awful...except that the young priest, who certainly didn’t strike me as a ball of fire, gave a very firm homily in which he told people that they were going to have to chose whether their master was going to be Christ - or the State! I was completely stunned.
So perhaps there’s hope, and with a good bishop, good people and churches will blossom. We have a great new bishop here in St Augustine. He arrived last June and you can already see the difference.
Thank you so much for your prayers. We greatly need them.
Your experience in Tallahassee sounds typical of the diocese, though in this particular town, sadly, there are not even any homilies to fall back on. It is chaos. Just chaos. But, I will try to keep in mind the good experiences you have had in St. Augustine after having received a solid bishop, and try to trust that we may have the same here. God willing we will.
Coth,
My fiancee is a Tally girl, and moved here to NY. She is converting and she once told me that she “didnt know” where her local RCC was. I didn’t believe her, until we went down to visit her family. Outside of the Catholic Center at FSU, I had to look online to find one. I’m glad that Bishop-Designate Parkes is headed there, as we will be returning to the Tallahassee area when I retire..
Tallahassee is a very nice area, isn’t it? I wouldn’t mind living there myself, though, as you point out, the Catholic Church there is in a terrible condition. I too am pleased to hear the news of our new bishop, and only hope and pray he does as much as he can to restore the diocese to its proper condition.
Who will exonerate Father Guarnizo?
Silence.
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