WASHINGTON (November 17, 1997) -- Pope John Paul II has named Monsignor James A. Murray, Chancellor of the diocese of Lansing and Rector of St. Mary Cathedral there, as Bishop of Kalamazoo.

Bishop-designate Murray succeeds Bishop Alfred J. Markiewicz who died January 9.

Archbishop Agostino Cacciavillan, Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to the United States, announced the appointment.

James Murray was born in Jackson, Michigan on July 5, 1932.

He attended Sacred Heart Seminary, Detroit, and St. John Provincial Seminary, Plymouth, and earned a licentiate in Canon Law from the Catholic University of America in 1964.

Bishop-designate Murray was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Lansing on June 7, 1958.

Following ordination, he was named parochial vicar at St. Joseph Parish, St. Joseph, Michigan. He was appointed Chancellor of Lansing in 1964, Rector of the Cathedral in 1973, and Moderator of the Curia in 1992.

Bishop-designate Murray was also diocesan ecumenical officer, chaplain of the Lansing police, and served on several committees of the Michigan Catholic Conference.

Established in 1971, the diocese of Kalamazoo comprises nine counties in the State of Michigan. It has a Catholic population of nearly 100,000 in a total population of 909,000.

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