Pope Names Bishop Conlon of Steubenville, Ohio as Bishop of Joliet, Illinois

WASHINGTON—Pope Benedict XVI has named Bishop R. Daniel Conlon of Steubenville, Ohio, 62, as Bishop of Joliet, Illinois.

The appointment was publicized in Washington, May 17, by Archbishop Pietro Sambi, Apostolic Nuncio to the United States.

Bishop Conlon succeeds Archbishop J. Peter Sartain, who was named archbishop of Seattle last September.

R. Daniel Conlon was born December 4, 1948 in Cincinnati. He studied at St. Gregory Seminary High School and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Athenaeum of Ohio/St. Gregory Seminary and a Master of Arts degree from the Athenaeum of Ohio/St. Mary’s Seminary of the West in Cincinnati. He earned doctorates in canon law and philosophy from the University of St. Paul, Ottawa.

Bishop Conlon was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati in 1977. After ordination he was assigned as associate pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in Cincinnati, 1977-1982. He was director of the archdiocese’s Office of Planning and Research, and assistant chancellor, 1981-1983, after which he studied canon law. In 1987, he was named chancellor of the archdiocese and director of the Department of Executive Services. He was named pastor of Holy Redeemer Parish, New Bremen, Ohio, 1996, and named bishop of Steubenville in 2002.

As a member of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Bishop Conlon has served on the Administrative Committee, the Subcommittee on Marriage and Family and the Committee on the Protection of Children and Young People, of which he currently is chair-elect.

The Joliet Diocese includes 1,888,772 persons, with 655,415 or 35 percent of them Catholic.