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	Bishop Sartain Installed in Diocese of Joliet The Associated Press, carried in Belleville News-Democrat June 27, 2006 http://www.belleville.com/mld/belleville/news/state/14914909.htm Joliet, Ill. - Bishop James Peter Sartain, a lifelong Southerner, was installed Tuesday as the head of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet. The ceremony was held at the Cathedral of St. Raymond. Sartain, 54, is Joliet's fourth bishop. He was named by Pope Benedict XVI to replace retired Bishop Joseph Imesch in May. "Very simply, I come to the people of the Joliet diocese as their pastor and their friend," Sartain said. Sartain is a native of Memphis, Tenn. He was ordained July 15, 1978 and had been serving as bishop of Little Rock, Ark., since 2000. He replaces a man who served as bishop of the Joliet diocese for nearly 27 years. Canon law required Imesch to retire upon turning 75 - his birthday was last Wednesday - but he also is stepping down amid criticism for his handling of sexual abuse allegations against priests. In a 2005 court deposition unsealed in February, Imesch said he felt no obligation to go to police in the 1970s when a priest on trial for molestation told Imesch he was guilty. The Joliet diocese, roughly 30 miles southwest of Chicago, serves Roman Catholics in seven counties.
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