SPRINGFIELD (MA)
iobserve
SPRINGFIELD — Pope Francis today named Bishop Mitchell Thomas Rozanski, currently an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, as the Ninth Bishop of Springfield, Mass.
He will succeed Bishop Timothy A. McDonnell who submitted his letter of resignation almost 18 months ago, as required by church law, on his 75th birthday, Dec. 23, 2012.
Bishop McDonnell was appointed March 4, 2004 as bishop of Springfield and installed April 1, 2004. He came to Springfield from the Archdiocese of New York. He has indicated that he will retire here in western Massachusetts.
The acceptance of Bishop McDonnell’s resignation and the appointment of Bishop Rozanski were announced in Washington, D.C. by Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, apostolic nuncio to the United States and simultaneously by the Vatican Press Office. An installation date has been set for Tuesday August 12 at St. Michael’s Cathedral in Springfield.
He will be the first bishop for the Diocese of Springfield with Polish roots.
Bishop Rozanski will be introduced this morning at a 10 a.m. press conference scheduled for the Bishop John Marshall Center. The press conference will be available via live streaming on the diocesan website www.diospringfield.org and the diocesan news website www.iobserve.org.
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