June 30, 2010 // Uncategorized

Bishop Skylstad retires; Bishop Cupich named to succeed him in Spokane

Todays Catholic

WASHINGTON (CNS) — Pope Benedict XVI has accepted the resignation of Bishop William S. Skylstad of Spokane, Wash., and named Bishop Blase J. Cupich of Rapid City, S.D., to succeed him.

The appointment and resignation were announced June 30 in Washington by Archbishop Pietro Sambi, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

Bishop Cupich, 61, had been bishop of Rapid City since 1998. Bishop Skylstad, 76, has been a bishop since 1977 and head of the Spokane Diocese since 1990.

Pope Benedict XVI has also named two seminary rectors as auxiliary bishops of Boston and accepted the resignation of Boston Auxiliary Bishop Emilio Allue, 75.

The appointments of Fathers Arthur L. Kennedy and Peter J. Uglietto, both priests of the Boston Archdiocese, and Bishop Allue’s resignation were made public June 30 by Msgr. Jean-Francois Lantheaume, charge d’affaires at the apostolic nunciature in Washington.

Bishop-designate Kennedy, 68, has been rector of St. John Seminary in Brighton, Mass., and formerly headed the U.S. bishops’ Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs in Washington. Bishop-designate Uglietto, 58, has served as rector of Blessed John XXIII National Seminary in Weston, Mass., since 2005.

Bishop Allue, a native of Spain and a member of the Society of Don Bosco, also known as the Salesians, has been an auxiliary bishop in Boston since 1996.