USCCB - (Office of Media Relations) - Florida Priest Named Bishop of Charleston as Bp. Thompson Resigns

Florida Priest Named Bishop of Charleston as Bp. Thompson Resigns

WASHINGTON (July 12, 1999) -- Pope John Paul II accepted the resignation of Most Reverend David B. Thompson as Bishop of Charleston, South Carolina, and named Father Robert J. Baker, pastor of Christ the King Church, Jacksonville, Florida as his successor.

Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo, Apostolic Nuncio to the United States, made the announcement.

Robert J. Baker was born in Fostoria, Ohio, June 4, 1944.

He attended Josephinum High School in Columbus; earned a BA in Philosophy and a Master of Divinity degree from the Pontifical College Josephinum, also in Columbus, and an S.T.D. from the Gregorian University in Rome.

Father Baker was ordained to the priesthood on March 21, 1970.

Following ordination, he served as assistant pastor of St. Paul parish, and teacher, Bishop Kenny High School, Jacksonville Beach, from 1970 to 1972; was a student at the Gregorian University, Rome, 1972-1975; spiritual director of the Pontifical College Josephinum, 1975-1976; Administrator of St. Augustine, Gainesville, 1976-1981; professor of theology at the regional seminary of St. Vincent de Paul, Boynton Beach, 1981-1984; Rector of the Cathedral of St. Augustine, and member of the College of Consultors, 1984-1997. He was named pastor of Christ the King in Jacksonville last year.

David B. Thompson was born in Philadelphia, May 29, 1923. He studied at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary and the Catholic University of America and was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, May 27, 1950.

Appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Charleston April 22, 1989, Bishop Thompson succeeded to the see on February 22, 1990.

Established July 11, 1820, the diocese of Charleston comprises the State of South Carolina. It has a Catholic population of nearly 117,000 in a total population of about 3,700,000.