WASHINGTON (March 7, 2003) -- Pope John Paul II has accepted the resignation of Bishop Manuel D. Moreno from the governance of the Diocese of Tucson, Arizona. The Coadjutor Bishop, Most Reverend Gerald F. Kicanas, will succeed as Bishop of the diocese.

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

Gerald F. Kicanas was born in Chicago, August 18, 1941. He studied at the University of St. Mary of the Lake in Mundelein, Illinois, and Loyola University in Chicago, and was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago on April 27, 1967. Named Titular Bishop of Bela and Auxiliary Bishop of Chicago, January 24, 1995, he was appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Tucson on October 30, 2001.

Manuel D. Moreno was born in Placentia, California, November 27, 1930. He studied at St. John"s Seminary, Camarillo, California, and was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles on April 25, 1961. Appointed Titular Bishop of Tamagrista and Auxiliary Bishop of Los Angeles on December 20, 1976, he was named Bishop of Tucson on January 9, 1982.

The Diocese of Tucson, established in 1897, comprise nine counties in the State of Arizona. It has a Catholic population of approximately 300,000 in a total population of about 1.4 million.

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