Posted on 05/27/2009 8:59:08 AM PDT by markomalley
Pope Accepts Resignation of Bishop of Allentown, Pennsylvania, Appoints Successor; Names Auxiliary Bishop in St. Paul-Minneapolis
WASHINGTON—Pope Benedict XVI has accepted the resignation of Bishop Edward P. Cullen, 76, from the pastoral governance of the Diocese of Allentown, Pennsylvania, and has named as his successor Msgr. John O. Barres, 48, chancellor of the Diocese of Wilmington, Delaware.
The same day he also named Father Lee Piché, 51, as Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Bishop–elect Piché has been vicar general of the archdiocese.
John O. Barres was born September 20, 1960, in Larchmont, New York, to Oliver and Marjorie (Catchpole) Barres. His parents are still living.
He attended Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts; Princeton University; and New York University Graduate School of Business Administration, where he earned a Master’s of Business Administration in Management in 1984.
He earned a Bachelor of Sacred Theology degree in 1988, and a Licentiate in Sacred Theology in Systematic Theology in 1989, from The Catholic University of America, and a Licentiate in Canon Law from the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome in 1988. He was awarded a Doctorate in Spiritual Theology from the same university in 1999.
Bishop-elect Barres was ordained a priest October 21, 1989, and served as an associate pastor in the Wilmington Diocese from 1989 to 1996. He studied for his doctorate in Rome, 1996-1999. After completing his degree he was assigned to be vice chancellor of the Wilmington Diocese and coordinator of institutional chaplains. In 2000, he was named chancellor, Delaware coordinator of Institutional Chaplains and served in the diocesan marriage tribunal.
He has been published in several periodicals including the Theological Journal of the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, Priest, Church, and Spiritual Life.
Bishop Cullen was named a bishop of Allentown in 1997 and had been an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. He holds three Master’s Degrees: in social work from the University of Pennsylvania; in religious education from LaSalle College; and in divinity from St. Charles Seminary.
The Allentown Diocese has 2,773 square miles. It has a total population of 1,161,932 persons, of which 272,921, or 23 percent, are Catholic.
Lee Anthony Piché was born in Minneapolis on May 8, 1958. He attended Irondale High School, in New Brighton, Minnesota and the College of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. He attended St. Paul Seminary in St. Paul and was ordained a priest May 26, 1984.
After ordination, Bishop-elect Piché was an associate pastor in St. Mark Parish in St. Paul, 1984-1987. In 1987, he joined the faculty of the College of St. Thomas. In 1987-88, he was a student at St. Joseph Seminary, Princeton, New Jersey. From 1988-1994, he was student at Columbia University, and from 1994-1999 was on the faculty of the College of St. Thomas. From 1999-2005 he was pastor at St. Joseph Parish in West St. Paul, and from 2005-2008, pastor of All Saints Parish in Lakeville, Minnesota. In 2008, he was named pastor, St. Andrew Parish in St. Paul and vicar general/moderator of the curia.
Was this one of those age-related mandatory retirements, or something else?
I’m hoping Pope Benedict is beginning to purge the American Catholic Church of its lefty clergy. But I won’t hold my breath.
His silence on the Notre Dame/Onada disgrace was deafening.
No it wasn't. The American bishops...more than 70 of them, gave all the pastoral guidance the flock needed. The Holy Father had no reason at all to intervene and would have been accused of interfering in a national squabble if he did.
Age-related. Previous bishop was 76; they offer to retire at 75.
Your argument, at best, is specious. Catholic doctrine, regarding abortion, the Sacrements or whatever is not constrained by national boundries. It transends them. It is the Pope’s specific responsibility to speak out whenever parts of the Catholic flock stray.
And on the matter of abortion, the Pope has not demonstrated the outrage one would expect toward the idea that one can vote for candidates—or candidates of a particular party—that enthusiastically embrace abortion.
even of babies who survive the abortionist.
It is not just the killing of innocent human beings that is the issue. Abortion destroys the very fabric upon which societies flourish—the family. Every human society that eschews the stabilizing influence of the family is simply a bunch of chotic people running around and copulating without the least regard for what their doing—except the momentary pleasure of an orgasm. The love and commitment part of the equation has no meaning to a significant percent of the American population. And that is why the country has lost its way.
You bet I expect the Pope the speak out—even shout out if he must. Eclesiastical papers are fine for the religious philospher. But people need to be communicated with directly and in the simplest language possible.
The Pope is most certainly not a bystander.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.