WASHINGTON (December 2, 2003) -- Pope John Paul II has appointed Bishop Raymond L. Burke of La Crosse, Wisconsin, as Archbishop of St. Louis.

Archbishop-designate Burke succeeds Cardinal Justin F. Rigali who was appointed Archbishop of Philadelphia in July.

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

Raymond L. Burke was born in Richland Center, Wisconsin, June 30, 1948. He studied at the Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C., the Gregorian University in Rome, and the North American College, Rome.

Ordained a priest of the La Crosse diocese June 29, 1975, he was appointed Bishop of La Crosse on December 10, 1994, and ordained January 6, 1995.

The Archdiocese of St. Louis was established as a diocese in 1826 and raised to the level of an archdiocese in 1847. It has a Catholic population of 555,000 in a total population of nearly 2.2 million.

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