Pope Accepts Resignation of Hartford Auxiliary Bishop Rosazza

WASHINGTON—Pope Benedict XVI has accepted the resignation of Hartford Auxiliary Bishop Peter A. Rosazza, 75, from the office of auxiliary bishop.

The resignation was publicized in Washington, June 30, by Msgr. Jean-François Lantheaume, Chargé d’Affaires, at the apostolic nunciature in the United States.

Bishop Rosazza, a native of New Haven, Connecticut, pursued seminary studies at St. Thomas Seminary, Bloomfield, Connecticut, St. Bernard’s Seminary in Rochester, and St. Sulpice Seminary in Issy-les-Moulineaux, France. He was ordained in Paris as a priest for the Hartford Archdiocese in 1961. He was ordained an auxiliary bishop for the archdiocese in 1978.

Bishop Rosazza also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from New York University and a Master of Arts degree from Middlebury College.

After ordination to the priesthood, Bishop Rosazza was an assistant pastor in St. Timothy Parish, West Hartford, 1961-1963; on the faculty of St. Thomas Seminary, 1963-1972; and co-pastor, Sacred Heart Parish, Hartford, 1972-1978. He served as regional bishop in Waterbury, Connecticut, 1981-1988, and then as regional bishop in New Haven.

As a member of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Bishop Rosazza was a member of the Subcommittee on the Church in Latin America. He also served as a member of the writing committee for the U.S. bishops’ pastoral “Economic Justice for All” and the drafting committee for the bishops’ “Pastoral Plan for Hispanic Ministry.”