Pope Francis Names Monsignor Schlert as New Bishop of Allentown

WASHINGTON—PopeFrancis has named Monsignor Alfred A. Schlert as Bishop of Allentown,Pennsylvania. Monsignor Schlert is currently the diocesan administrator of thediocese of Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Theappointment was publicized in Washington, June 27, by Archbishop ChristophePierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

Bishop-electSchlert was born in Easton, Pennsylvania July 24, 1961. He prepared for the priesthood at St. CharlesBorromeo Seminary near Philadelphia and the Pontifical Roman Seminary and St.John Lateran University in Rome. He received a Licentiate in Canon Law from thePontifical Lateran University in 1992. He was ordained a priest on September 19, 1987. 

Assignmentsafter ordination included: assistant pastor of St. Francis of Assisi Church inAllentown; professor at his alma mater Notre Dame High School; and Catholicchaplain at Lehigh University. He wasnamed Vice Chancellor and Secretary to the bishop in 1997; and was named vicargeneral of the diocese of Allentown in 1998. 

PopeSt. John Paul II named him Chaplain to His Holiness with the title of Monsignorin 1999. Pope Benedict named him aPrelate of Honor, the second highest rank of Monsignor, in 2005.

Whilestill serving as Vicar General, he was still pastor of St. Theresa of the ChildJesus Church in Hellertown, 2008-2010, when he resumed full time service asvicar general. 

Inaddition, Bishop-elect Schlert is Vice President of the Pennsylvania Catholic Conferenceand a member of its Administrative Board. He also served on the diocesan Council of Priests, the diocesanFinancial Council, and the diocesan College of Consultors. He is also a member of the Board of Trusteesfor DeSales University.  

TheDiocese of Allentown has been a vacant see since December, 2016 when it wasannounced Pope Francis had transferred Allentown Bishop John O. Barres to serveas Bishop of the Diocese of Rockville Center in Long Island, New York.

TheDiocese comprises 2,773 square miles and it has total population of approximately1,161,932 people of which 272,300, or 23 percent, are Catholic.

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Keywords:bishop appointment, Pope Francis, Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio,Monsignor Alfred A. Schlert , Diocese of Allentown, Bishop John O. Barres, vacantsee.

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