Pope Names Bishop Aquila Of Fargo, North Dakota As Archbishop Of Denver, Bishop Malone Of Portland, Maine As Bishop Of Buffalo, Accepts Resignation Of Bishop Kmiec Of Buffalo

WASHINGTON—Pope Benedict XVI has namedBishop Samuel J. Aquila of Fargo, North Dakota, 61, as archbishop of Denver;Bishop Richard J. Malone of Portland, Maine, 66, as bishop of Buffalo, NewYork; and accepted the resignation of 75-year-oldBishop Edward U. Kmiec from the pastoral governance of the Buffalo Diocese.

Theappointments and resignation were publicized in Washington, May 29, by ArchbishopCarlo Maria Viganò, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

BishopAquila succeeds Archbishop Charles Chaput, OFM Cap., who was named archbishopof Philadelphia last July.

SamuelJoseph Aquila was born September 24, 1950, in Burbank, California. He studiedat St. Thomas Seminary, Denver, where he earned a master’s degree in theology,and at San Anselmo University, Rome, where he earned a licentiate in theology.He was ordained a priest for the Denver Archdiocese in 1976. In the archdiocesehe served as director of the Office of Liturgy, secretary for Catholic education,the first director of the St. John Vianney Seminary, and chief executiveofficer of Our Lady of the New Advent Theological Institute. He was named coadjutorbishop of Fargo in 2001 and bishop of Fargo in 2002.

RichardJoseph Malone was born in Salem, Massachusetts,March 19, 1946, and ordained a priest for the Boston Archdiocese in1972. He holds a bachelor of theology degree, a master of divinity degree, anda master of theology in biblical studies from St. John Seminary School of Theology,a doctor of theology degree in religion and education from Boston University,and a licentiate in sacred theology from Weston Jesuit School of Theology.

BishopMalone was named an auxiliary bishop of Boston in 2000, and bishop of Portlandin 2004. Prior to his ordination as a bishop, he taught theology at the archdiocesanseminary, had served as director of campus ministry at Harvard University,director of the archdiocesan office of ecumenical and interreligious affairs,director of religious education and secretary for education.

EdwardUrban Kmiec was born in Trenton, New Jersey, June 4, 1936. He studied at St. Mary’sSeminary in Baltimore, the Gregorian University, Rome, and the North AmericanCollege. He was ordained a priest in 1961. He was named auxiliary bishop of Trentonin 1982, bishop of Nashville, Tennessee, in 1992, and bishop of Buffalo in2004.

TheDenver Archdiocese has a population of 3,299,911people, with 541,419, or 16percent, of them Catholic. It includes 25 counties across 40,154 square miles innorthern Colorado.

TheBuffalo diocese has 1,527,470 persons, with 633,550, or 41 percent, of them Catholic.It includes eight counties across 6,357 square miles in western New York State.

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