USCCB - (Office of Media Relations) - Pope Accepts Resignation of Archbishop Schulte of New Orleans; Coadjutor Archbishop Hughes Succeed Him

Pope Accepts Resignation of Archbishop Schulte of New Orleans; Coadjutor Archbishop Hughes Succeed Him

WASHINGTON (January 3, 2002) -- Pope John Paul II has accepted the resignation of Archbishop Francis B. Schulte from the governance of the Archdiocese of New Orleans. Archbishop Alfred C. Hughes, his coadjutor archbishop, succeeds him.

Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo, Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to the United States, announced the appointment.

Archbishop Hughes, 69, was named coadjutor in February, 2001.

Alfred Clifton Hughes was born in Boston, December 2, 1932. He attended St. John's Seminary in Brighton and the Gregorian University in Rome, where he was ordained December 15, 1957.

After a year at St. Stephen's Parish in Framingham, Massachusetts, he returned to the Gregorian to study ascetical theology, earning a doctorate in 1961. Following a year as associate pastor at Our Lady Help of Christians Parish in Newton, he joined the faculty of St. John's Seminary. He served as spiritual director in addition to working in both the theologate and college divisions.

Bishop Hughes was serving as Rector of St. John's Seminary when he was named Auxiliary Bishop of Boston, July 21, 1981.

He was appointed Bishop of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on September 7, 1993.

Archbishop Schulte has been Archbishop of New Orleans since 1988.

Francis Bible Schulte was born in Philadelphia, December 23, 1926. He studied at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, Overbrook, PA, and the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned an advanced degree in political science. He also studied at Oxford University, England, and at Harvard University.

Archbishop Schulte was ordained a priest on May 10, 1952. He was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Philadelphia, June 30, 1981, named Bishop of Wheeling-Charleston, West Virginia, June 4, 1985, and appointed Archbishop of New Orleans on December 13, 1988.