Hierarchy update

The Holy Father has appointed Msgr. Michael Duca, currently rector of Holy Trinity Seminary in Dallas, Texas, a priest of the Diocese of Dallas, TX, as bishop of the Diocese of Shreveport, LA. Bishop-designate Duca succeeds Bishop William Benedict Friend, who retired in December 2006 at age 75. It is important to note that, like the past several appointments, no vacancy was created to fill this one.

This appointment finds the number of ordinaries serving beyond the mandatory retirement age of 75 on the rise, currently numbering eleven. These prelates are Cardinals Maida and Egan of Detroit and New York respectively, as well as Archbishops Hughes of New Orleans; Lipscombe of Mobile, AL and Curtiss of Omaha, NE. Bishops serving past 75 are D'Arcy of Ft. Wayne/South Bend; IN; Murray of Kalamazoo, MI, Moynihan of Syracuse, NY; Saltarelli of Wilmingtn, DE; Tafoya of Pueblo, CO; Cullen of Allentown. PA. Archbishop Brunette of Seattle turns 75 early in 2009. Bishops Peña of Brownsville, TX; Carmody of Corpus Christi, TX; Higi of Lafayette in Indiana are all 74. It also bears noting that Archbishop Flynn of St. Paul/Minneapolis, who will also turn 75 this year, and Bishop Weigand of Sacramento have co-adjutors in the persons of Archbishop Nienstedt and Bishop Soto respectively.

The sede vancante dioceses in the United States are now Charleston, South Carolina; Knoxville, Tennessee; Green Bay, Wisconsin; Des Moines, Iowa; St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands; Juneau, Alaska; Little Rock, Arkansas; New Ulm, Minnesota.