Pope Benedict Accepts Resignation of Oklahoma City Archbishop Beltran, Appoints Kansas Bishop Coakley as Successor

WASHINGTON (December 16, 2010)—Pope Benedict XVI has accepted the resignation of Archbishop Eusebius Beltran, 76, from the pastoral governance of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, and has named Bishop Paul Coakley, 55, until now Bishop of Salina, Kansas, as his successor.

The resignation and appointment were publicized in Washington, December 16, by Archbishop Pietro Sambi, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

Paul Stagg Coakley was born in Norfolk, Virginia, on June 3, 1955. His family moved to Kansas while he was still a child. He attended the University of Kansas, in Lawrence, where he earned a degree in Classical Antiquities and English Literature in 1977. In 1979 he entered the St. Pius X Seminary in Erlanger, Kentucky. From 1979 until 1983 he studied theology at Mt. St. Mary Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland, where he earned a Master of Theology in Scripture.

Archbishop-designate Coakley was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Wichita, Kansas, May 21, 1983. He held numerous parish and other assignments. From 1998 to 2002 he was director of Spiritual formation at Mt. St. Mary Seminary in Emmitsburg. He was appointed bishop of the Diocese of Salina, Kansas, October 21, 2004 and ordained a bishop December 28, 2004.

Archbishop Eusebius Beltran was born August 31, 1934 in Ashley, Pennsylvania. He was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Atlanta May 14, 1960 and appointed bishop of Tulsa, Oklahoma, on February 28, 1978. He was named Archbishop of Oklahoma City November 24, 1992.

The Archdiocese of Oklahoma City includes 42,470 square miles in the State of Oklahoma. It has a total population of 2,998,568 of whom 108,171, are Catholic.