Pope Accepts Resignation of Bishop Kinney of St. Cloud, Minnesota, Names Bishop Kettler of Fairbanks, Alaska, Successor

WASHINGTON—Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Bishop John Kinney, 76, from the pastoral governance of the Diocese of St. Cloud, Minnesota, and named Bishop Donald Kettler, of Fairbanks, Alaska, 69, to succeed him.

The resignation and appointment were publicized in Washington, September 20, by Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

Donald Joseph Kettler was born November 26, 1944, in Minneapolis. He earned bachelor of arts and master of divinity degrees from St. John’s University, Collegeville, Minnesota, and a licentiate in canon law from The Catholic University of America. He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, in 1970, and bishop of Fairbanks in 2002.

Bishop Kinney has served as bishop of St. Cloud since 1995. He was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Minneapolis and St. Paul, in 1963, and appointed bishop of Bismarck, North Dakota in 1982. He was named auxiliary bishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis in 1977.

The St. Cloud Diocese covers 12,251 square miles in the state of Minnesota and has a total population of 561,685 people, with 136,727, or 24 percent of them, Catholic.

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