MASSACHUSETTS
The Republican
By Conor Berry | cberry@repub.com
on June 19, 2014
SPRINGFIELD — Pope Francis on Thursday named Bishop Mitchell Thomas Rozanski, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, to succeed retiring Bishop Timothy Anthony McDonnell as head of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield.
Rozanski, 55, is the ninth bishop of the 144-year-old Springfield diocese, which spans all four Western Massachusetts counties and caters to the region’s roughly 230,000 Catholics spread over 81 parishes.
Rozanski’s appointment was simulatneously announced in Washington, D.C., by Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, apostolic nuncio to the United States, and by the Vatican Press Office. An installation date is scheduled for Aug. 12 at St. Michael’s Cathedral in Springfield.
After more than half a century as a priest, McDonnell submitted his letter of resignation almost 18 months ago, as required by church law, when he turned 75 on Dec. 23, 2012.
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