Our new Bishop! ~ Welcome Bishop Rhoades

(Bishop John Michael D'Arcy & our new Bishop, Bishop Kevin Rhoades)

Well...the rumors have been confirmed. We have a new Bishop!

Just this evening I was chatting with friends of ours from the Catholic Young Adults Group in State College about how we were getting a new Bishop soon. One of my girlfriends, who now lives in Hershey mentioned that they too had just found out that they would be losing their Bishop (the Bishop of Harrisburg). Imagine my surprise when 30 minutes later I can home, checked online and found out that our new Bishop in Fort Wayne-South Bend is Bishop Kevin Rhoades...who was up until now the Bishop of Harrisburg. Small world.

Initial reactions are very positive. Several friends of mine have worked with him within the diocese or know him in other capacities and have nothing but wonderful things to say about him. Thanks be to God! So we will continue to pray and to look forward to his installation on January 13, 2010. Welcome Bishop Kevin Rhoades!

Bishop Rhoades was born November 26, 1957, in Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania. He studied for the priesthood at St. Charles Seminary, Overbrook, Pennsylvania, and the Gregorian University and was ordained to the priesthood in 1983. He became rector of St. Mary’s Seminary, Emmitsburg, Maryland in 1997, and was named Bishop of Harrisburg in 2004. He holds Licentiates in Canon Law and Sacred Theology from the Gregorian University.

The Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend has a population of 1,262,788 people, with 157,703, or 12 per cent, of them Catholic. [More information on the diocesan website.]