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	Pope Accepts Resignation of Raleigh Bishop NBC 17 June 8, 2006 http://www.nbc17.com/news/9339553/detail.html RALEIGH, N.C. -- An auxiliary bishop from Philadelphia was named Thursday to succeed retiring Bishop F. Joseph Gossman as head of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Raleigh, where Gossman served for 31 years. Pope Benedict XVI named Bishop Michael Burbidge, 48, to the Raleigh post. His installation is slated for Aug. 4 in Raleigh. Gossman, 76, is a year beyond the normal retirement age for bishops. He resigned because of his age. The diocese is in charge of Roman Catholic churches that have more than 186,000 members in 54 counties of central and eastern North Carolina. The rest of North Carolina falls under the supervision of the Diocese of Charlotte. Burbidge holds a doctorate in education and has been an auxiliary bishop in Philadelphia since 2002. He has been helping Philadelphia Cardinal Justin Rigali since 2004 with communications and public affairs, among other duties. "I believe the Holy Father has appointed a fine shepherd to lead us," Gossman wrote in an e-mail Thursday. The Raleigh diocese, though much smaller than its Philadelphia counterpart, has grown in population by 61 percent in the past decade. The diocese, which stretches from Chatham to Dare counties, said that in 2005 it had 186,307 registered Catholics, not including many Hispanic Catholics who typically do not register. Burbidge will manage the growth of the diocese and lead its 126 priests. Former Philadelphia Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua in 1999 named Burbidge rector of St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, a position he held until 2004. Gossman had been head of the Raleigh diocese since May 1975. He was born in Baltimore and ordained a priest there in 1955, serving in a variety of roles in the Archdiocese of Baltimore until he moved to Raleigh.
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