This morning Pope Benedict XVI has appointed Bishop John Nienstedt of New Ulm, Minnesota, as coadjutor-archbishop in the Archdiocese of Minneapolis-St. Paul.
Nienstedt was appointed to New Ulm in 2001, succeeding Bishop Raymond Lucker, who is now deceased. Nienstedt is originally a priest of the Archdiocese of Detroit and then an auxiliary for that same archdiocese.
Archbishop Harry Flynn of Minneapolis is will turn 74 on May 2, one year shy of mandatory retirement. Presumably this appointment will mean that on that date next year, Flynn will step down and Nienstedt will immediately succeed him.
Flynn was appointed coadjutor in Minneapolis in 1994 and succeeded to the office in 1995.
With the latest addition of New Ulm, there are now eight US dioceses that are vacant, including a few that rumor sites have been predicting on a regular basis would have a bishop appointed “any day now” but still remain empty months later. Eleven bishops are also now serving past their 75th birthday.
The vacant sees are: Birmingham, Alabama; Pittsburgh; Little Rock; Great Falls/Billings, Montana; Shreveport, Louisiana; Virgin Islands; Des Moines, Iowa; and New Ulm. The over-75 bishops are Cardinal Adam Maida of Detroit; Bishop John Leibrecht of Springfield-Cape Girardeau, Missouri; Bishop Carl Mengeling of Lansing, Michigan; Bishop Raphael Fliss of Superior, Wisconsin; Cardinal William Keeler of Baltimore; Archbishop Thomas Kelly of Louisville, Kentucky; Archbishop Oscar Lipscomb of Mobile, Alabama; Bshop Victor Balke of Crookston, Minnesota; Bishop John Yanta of Amarillo, Texas; Bishop Michael Saltarelli of Wilmington, Delaware; and Cardinal Edward Egan of New York.
[Thanks to Catholic-Hierarchy and Ed Peters for the background information.]Technorati Tags: Catholic | bishops | Minneapolis | New Ulm | Pope |
It is the Archdiocese of ST. PAUL-MINNEAPOLIS, NOT Minneapolis-St. Paul. The seat of the Archbishop is the Cathedral of Saint Paul. The home of the Archbishop is ST. PAUL. How difficult is it to GET IT RIGHT?
Hey Gigi, cut back on the caffeine. It’s not that important. It’s an honest mistake based on the fact that in every other way everyone refers to it the other way around.
Do you really want to attack a stranger rudely based over this?
Folks are pretty stressed out in Minnesota. Bishop John has some hot topics to wade into right away. One thing we hope is that he does not wait to act like other Bishops have done. “I’ll wait a year to make any changes…” we heard in 1994 and the result was a sort of paralysis.
We have strong sects here that resist the Church and proudly asserts an independent (from the Church) mentality. We have a Chancery that needs to be reformed, and Universities that need to address real problems like Catholicity and financial reform. St. Thomas University has been expanding and spending like crazy, and seemingly going backwards financially.
There are renegade congregations that champion the Gay and Lesbian factions, radical feminists who continue to refashion the Church in their own image including alteration of the Liturgy to reflect their new anti-creed.
Rome is well aware of our problems and has been well informed by the faithful, so let us hope this Bishop is an answer to prayer.
Do you really want to attack a stranger rudely based over this?
I thought it was a sweet and polite attack, though a bit savage, rending and tearing the flesh. But certainly not rude…
MikeMcD….you are correct about the faulty approach of “I’ll wait a year to make changes…”
Here in Milwaukee we have the same group of renegrade dissidents at the chancery that Archbishop Weakland had running the place. Archbishop Dolan doesn’t understand, or does not want to understand, that rank and file Catholics
are not impressed with “leaders” who have made an “art” of covering for their “boss’s” financial and sexual excesses, not to mention priests who have molested children, and allowed every sort of dissident to have a platform in the diocese leaving the place in ruins. What will it take to get a true leader and shepherd?