USCCB - (Office of Media Relations) - Pope Appoints Bishop Corrada Del Rio to Tyler, Texas; Names Successor to Bishop Chedid of Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon of Los Angeles; Resignation of Bishop Kuzma of Byzantine Eparchy of Van Nuys Accepted

Pope Appoints Bishop Corrada Del Rio to Tyler, Texas; Names Successor to Bishop Chedid of Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon of Los Angeles; Resignation of Bishop Kuzma of Byzantine Eparchy of Van Nuys Accepted

WASHINGTON (December 4, 2000) -- Pope John Paul II has appointed as Bishop of Tyler, Texas the Most Reverend Alvaro Corrada del Rio, SJ, until now Auxiliary Bishop of Washington and Apostolic Administrator of Caguas, Puerto Rico. Bishop Corrada del Rio succeeds Bishop Edmond Carmody who was appointed Bishop of Corpus Christi last February.

The Pope accepted the resignation of Most Reverend John G. Chedid, 77, as Bishop of the Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon of Los Angeles, and appointed Chorbishop Robert J. Shaheen, pastor of St. Raymond Church, St. Louis, as his successor.

Pope John Paul also accepted the resignation of Most Reverend George M. Kuzma, 75, as Bishop of the Byzantine Eparchy of Van Nuys for the Ruthenians. No successor was named at this time.

Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo, Apostolic Nuncio to the Uniterd States, made the announcements.

Alvaro Corrada del Rio was born May 13, 1942, in Santurce, Puerto Rico. After studies at Jesuit seminaries, he was ordained a priest July 6, 1974. He was appointed Titular Bishop of Rusticiana and Auxiliary Bishop of Washington, May 31, 1985. He was appointed Apostolic Administrator of Caguas on July 4, 1997.

John George Chedid was born in Lebanon in 1923. He was ordained a priest in 1951. He was named Titular Bishop of Callinico and auxiliary bishop of St. Maron of Brooklyn for the Maronites in 1980. Bishop Chedid was appointed first Bishop of the Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon of Los Angeles, March 1, 1994. The Eparchy is one of two Maronite Eparchies (dioceses) in the United States, and has responsibility for 25 parishes and nine missions in the Midwest and Western United States.

George M. Kuzma was born July 24, 1925 in Windber, Pennsylvania. Following studies at Sts. Cyril and Methodius Seminary, Pittsburgh, he was ordained a priest (Pittsburgh, Byzantine Rite) May 29, 1955. He was named Titular Bishop of Telmisso and auxiliary bishop of the Byzantine Catholic diocese of Passaic of the Ruthenians on November 11, 1986. He was appointed Bishop of the Byzatine Eparchy of Van Nuys for the Ruthenians, October 23, 1990.

Established in 1981, the Byzantine Eparchy of Van Nuys embraces all Catholics (about 3,050) of the Byzantine-Ruthenian Church in the States of California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, New Mexico, Alaska and Hawaii.