Pope Names Denver Auxiliary Bishop Conley To Head Lincoln, Nebraska Diocese, Accepts Resignation Of Bishop Bruskewitz

WASHINGTON—Pope Benedict XVI has named AuxiliaryBishop James Douglas Conley, 57, as bishop of Lincoln, Nebraska and acceptedthe resignation of Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz, 77, from the pastoral governanceofthe diocese.

The appointmentand resignation were publicized in Washington, September 14, by Archbishop CarloMaria Viganò, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

JamesDouglas Conley was born March 19, 1955, in Kansas City, Missouri. He was raisedPresbyterian and converted to Catholicism during college at age 20. He pursuedpre-theological studies at St. Pius X Seminary in Erlanger, Kentucky, andtheological studies at Mt. St. Mary Seminary, Emmitsburg, Maryland.

Bishop Conley was ordained a priest in 1985 for theDiocese of Wichita, Kansas and later earned a licentiate in moral theology andethics at the Academia Alfonsiana, Rome. Assignments after ordination includedwork as an associate pastor and pastor, director of Wichita diocesan RespectLife activities and service at the Vatican Congregation for Bishops.

He was named a prelate of honor with the title monsignorin 1998 and ordained auxiliary bishop of Denver in 2008.

BishopBruskewitz was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee in 1960 andhas headed the Lincoln diocese since 1992.

The Lincolndiocese includes 588,641 persons, with 96,625, or 16 percent of them, Catholic.

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