Pope Appoints Bishop Galante to Camden, Bishop George Thomas to Helena, Accepts Resignation of Auxiliary Bishop Costello of Syracuse
WASHINGTON (March 23, 2004) -- Pope John Paul II appointed Coadjutor Bishop Joseph A. Galante of Dallas to be Bishop of Camden, New Jersey, and named Auxiliary Bishop George L. Thomas of Seattle as Bishop of Helena, Montana.
The Pope accepted the resignation of Bishop Thomas J. Costello, Auxiliary Bishop of Syracuse since 1978.
Bishop Galante succeeds Bishop Nicholas A. DiMarzio who was appointed Bishop of Brooklyn in August.
Bishop Thomas succeeds Bishop Robert C. Morlino who was named Bishop of Madison last May.
Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo, Apostolic Nuncio to the United States, made the announcements.
Joseph Anthony Galante was born July 2, 1938, in Philadelphia. He studied at St. Charles Seminary, Overbrook, PA, and was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia on May 16, 1964. He was appointed Titular Bishop of Equilium and Auxiliary Bishop of San Antonio, October 13, 1992, and appointed Bishop of Beaumont April 5, 1994. Bishop Galante was appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Dallas on November 23, 1999.
Bishop Galante also served as Vicar for Religious of the Philadelphia Archdiocese and for six years as the Undersecretary for the Congregation for Religious in Rome. He holds a doctorate in canon law from the Lateran University, Rome.
Bishop Galante is former Chairman of the Committee for Communications of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and serves on the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Social Communications. He is also a member of the Committee on Canonical Affairs, Catholic Communication Campaign Advisory Board, the Ad Hoc Committee on Economic Concerns of the Holy See, and the Ad Hoc Committee on Sexual Abuse.
The Diocese of Camden comprises the counties of Atlantic, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem in the State of New Jersey. It has a Catholic population of 445,000 in a total population of 1.3 million.
George Leo Thomas was born May 19, 1950, in Anaconda, Montana. He studied at Carroll College in Helena, St. Thomas Seminary in Kenmore, Washington, and at the University of Washington, in Seattle. Ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Seattle May 22, 1976, he was appointed Titular Bishop of Vagruata and Auxiliary Bishop of Seattle, November 19, 1999.
Bishop Thomas is a member of the USCCB Committee for Communications. He is Chairman of Region XII, and a member of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, the Subcommittee for Standards and Policy, and the Subcommittee on Bishops and Catholic College and University Presidents.
The Diocese of Helena comprises 51,922 square miles in the western part of the State of Montana. It has a Catholic population of about 68,000 in a total population of some 509,000.
Thomas Joseph Costello was born in Camden, N.Y., February 23, 1929. He attended St. Bernard Seminary, Rochester, and Theological College at the Catholic University of America in Washington, and was ordained a priest on June 5, 1954, in Syracuse. He earned an advanced degree in canon law at Catholic University.
Bishop Costello was Syracuse Diocesan Superintendent of Schools from 1960 to 1975. He was appointed titular bishop of Perdices and Auxiliary Bishop of Syracuse on January 13, 1978.
Bishop Costello is former Chairman and long time member of the USCCB Committee for Communications, and Chairman of the Catholic Communication Campaign Advisory Board.