WASHINGTON (March 3, 2001) -- Pope John Paul II accepted the resignation of Archbishop Francis T. Hurley of Anchorage, Alaska. Most Reverend Roger L. Schwietz, OMI, who was named Coadjutor Archbishop of Anchorage in January of last year, will now become Ordinary of the Archdiocese.

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

Roger Lawrence Schwietz was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, on July 3, 1940. He earned an M.A. at the University of Ottawa in 1964, an M.A. in Counseling/Psychology at Loyola University in 1972, and an S.T.L. at the Gregorian University in Rome in 1968. He was ordained a priest, in the order of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, on December 20, 1967.

Appointed Bishop of Duluth on December 12, 1989, he was ordained a bishop on February 2, 1990. He was appointed Coadjutor Archbishop of Anchorage on January 18, 2000.

Francis T. Hurley was born in San Francisco, January 12, 1927, and ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of San Francisco on June 16, 1951. He was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Juneau, February 4, 1970, Bishop of Juneau, July 20, 1971, and Archbishop of Anchorage, May 4, 1976.

Established February 9, 1966, the Archdiocese of Anchorage comprises the Third Judicial Division of Alaska, some 138,985 square miles. It has a Catholic population of 31,071 in a total population of 396,801.

For media inquiries, e-mail us at commdept@usccb.org
Department of Communications | 3211 4th Street, N.E., Washington DC 20017-1194 | (202) 541-3000 © USCCB. All rights reserved.