Pope Francis appoints three new bishops to U.S. dioceses

CNA Staff, Feb 12, 2025 / 13:45 pm (CNA).

The Vatican on Wednesday announced that Pope Francis had appointed three new bishops to dioceses in the United States. 

The Archdiocese of Cincinnati and the Dioceses of Sioux City and Norwich all received new appointments, the Holy See said in a press statement.

All three of the retiring or retired prelates tendered their resignations to the Vatican upon their 75th birthdays in accordance with Church law.

Auxiliary bishop of Chicago to lead Cincinnati

Francis on Wednesday accepted the resignation of Cincinnati Archbishop Dennis Schnurr, the Vatican said, and appointed Chicago Auxiliary Bishop Robert Casey to take his place in that archdiocese. 

Schnurr has served as the Cincinnati archbishop since 2009. He had briefly served as coadjutor archbishop there and was the bishop of Duluth from 2001 to 2008. 

Casey was born in Chicago on Sept. 23, 1967. He studied at Niles College Seminary at Loyola University, graduating in 1989 with an English degree. He received a Master of Divinity from the University of St. Mary of the Lake in 1994. 

Ordained on May 21, 1994, in the Archdiocese of Chicago, he served at several parishes before being appointed by Pope Francis as an auxiliary bishop of Chicago in July of 2018. He was episcopally consecrated on Sept. 17 of that year. 

In a press statement on Wednesday Casey said he accepted the appointment “with gratitude and humility.”

“As archbishop, my primary role will be one of discipleship,” he said. “Entrusted with proclaiming the joy of the Gospel, I answer the call of Christ to accompany all in the archdiocese on the journey of faith, so that together we may deepen our love for God and neighbor.”

Schnurr, meanwhile, said that Casey “is highly regarded by the people and priests he serves, and I am pleased such a good man will be shepherding the people of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.”

Ohio priest will head to Sioux City

The pope also accepted Sioux City Bishop Ralph Walker Nickless’ resignation, the Vatican said, and appointed Father John Keehner, a parish priest in the Diocese of Youngstown, to the Iowa bishopric. 

Born Nov. 19, 1965, in Youngstown, Keehner studied at Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus and received a master’s degree in biblical studies from Mount Saint Mary’s Seminary of the West in Cincinnati. He went on to receive a licentiate in canon law from the Angelicum in Rome. 

Ordained a priest in Youngstown on June 12, 1993, Keehner has served at numerous parishes there, as well as on the diocesan tribunal and as rector of Saint Columba Cathedral. 

Massachusetts vicar general to lead Connecticut diocese

The Vatican also announced that Monsignor Richard Reidy, presently the vicar general of the Diocese of Worcester, has been appointed the bishop of the Diocese of Norwich, Connecticut. 

That diocese has been overseen by Hartford Archbishop Christopher Coyne since the retirement of Bishop Michael Côté on Sept. 3, 2024. 

Reidy was born on May 30, 1958, in Worcester. He studied at the College of the Holy Cross and received a J.D. at Boston College in 1983. 

He studied further at Saint Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore and in Rome at the Pontifical North American College and received a doctorate in sacred theology from Pontifical Gregorian University and a master’s degree from the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas. 

Ordained on June 25, 1994, he served at several parishes in Worcester, as vicar general and moderator of the curia, and as defender of the bond for the diocesan tribunal.

He also received a licentiate in canon law from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. in 2010. 

Coyne told media that he was “confident that [Reidy] will be an excellent shepherd for the people of the Diocese.”

Source: https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/262179/pope-francis-appoints-three-new-bishops-to-us-dioceses