ALASKA
News-Miner
Weston Morrow /wmorrow@newsminer.com
FAIRBANKS—The Catholic Church announced Friday that Pope Francis had appointed Fairbanks Bishop Donald J. Kettler to lead the diocese of St. Cloud, Minn.
The announcement came 15 months after St. Cloud Bishop John Kinney submitted a letter of retirement to the Vatican. Catholic law requires bishops retirement at age 75.
Kettler has been bishop of the diocese of Fairbanks for 11 years, first arriving in 2002, two years after the death of the prior bishop, Rev. Michael J. Kaniecki. Kaniecki had held the post since 1984.
Kettler presided over the diocese when more than a dozen men sued the Fairbanks branch of the Catholic church, accusing one of its priests of sexual abuse. The diocese’s own announcement Friday about Kettler’s departure noted he “oversaw the darkest period in the diocese’s history.”
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.