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WASHINGTON (June 21, 2001) -- Pope John Paul II has named Monsignor Vincent M. Rizzotto, Vicar General
of the Diocese of Galveston-Houston, Texas, to serve as the Auxiliary Bishop to Bishop Joseph A. Fiorenza.
Bishop-elect Rizzotto was named Titular Bishop of Lamasba.
Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo, Apostolic Nuncio to the United States, announced the appointment.
In commenting on his new Auxiliary Bishop, Bishop Fiorenza said: "It will be my honor and privilege to ordain my Vicar General, who has been a dear friend since the day we met 52 years ago as students for the priesthood. It is not often that a Bishop has the special joy of ordaining to the episcopate a close personal friend. I am very grateful to Pope John Paul for this wonderful gift to our Diocese. Bishop Rizzotto has been a great pastor of St. Cecilia parish for the past 20 years and an invaluable help to me as Vicar General. As Auxiliary Bishop, he will be a greater help to me."
Bishop-elect Rizzotto was born on September 9, 1931 in Houston. He attended Holy Name School and St. Thomas High School. In 1949 he entered St. Mary Seminary and was
ordained a priest on May 26, 1956 in St. Mary Cathedral in Galveston. In 1960 he was sent for graduate studies at the Catholic University of America, in Washington, D.C., where he earned a licentiate in Canon Law in 1962.
From 1960 to 1970 he served in the Diocesan Marriage Tribunal and from 1965 to 1970 he was the Judicial Vicar of the Tribunal. In 1970 he was appointed pastor of St. Francis de Sales Church in Houston and in 1982 he was named pastor of St. Cecilia Church where he currently serves. In 1994, he was named the Vicar General of the Diocese of Galveston-Houston.
Bishop-elect Rizzotto will be ordained a Bishop on July 31, 2001, in St. Michael Church, Houston.