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WASHINGTON (March 9, 2004) -— Pope John Paul II has accepted the resignation of 75-year-old Bishop Daniel P. Reilly of Worcester, MA, and named Auxiliary Bishop Robert J. McManus of Providence, RI, as his successor.
The Pope named Auxiliary Bishop Timothy A. McDonnell of New York as Bishop of Springfield, MA, succeeding Bishop Thomas L. Dupré who resigned February 11.
Pope John Paul appointed Monsignor Robert J. Cunningham, Diocesan Administrator of Buffalo, NY, as Bishop of Ogdensburg. He succeeds Bishop Gerald M. Barbarito who was appointed Bishop of Palm Beach last July.
The Holy Father named Monsignor Robert W. Finn, editor of the archdiocesan newspaper St. Louis Review, as Coadjutor Bishop of Kansas City-St. Joseph, MO. A coadjutor bishop enjoys the right of succession, which means he becomes head of the diocese upon the death or retirement of the incumbent bishop. Most Reverend Raymond J. Boland has been Bishop of Kansas City-St. Joseph since 1993.
Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo, Apostolic Nuncio to the United States, made the announcements.
Robert J. McManus was born in Providence on July 5, 1951. He is a graduate of Blessed Sacrament School, Providence, and of Our Lady of Providence Seminary High School.
He studied for the priesthood at Our Lady of Providence Seminary, the Catholic University of America, and the Toronto School of Theology. He was ordained a priest of the Providence diocese on May 27, 1978.
Bishop McManus was serving as Vicar for Education and Rector of Our Lady of Providence Seminary when he was named Titular Bishop of Allegheny and Auxiliary Bishop of Providence, December 1, 1998.
Bishop Daniel Reilly is also a native of Providence, where he was born May 12, 1928. He studied at Grand Seminaire, St. Brieuc, France and was ordained a priest of the Providence diocese, May 30, 1953. Appointed Bishop of Norwich, CT, June 17, 1975, Bishop Reilly was transferred to the diocese of Worcester on October 27, 1994.
The Diocese of Worcester comprises the County of Worcester in the State of Massachusetts. It has a Catholic population of approximately 390,700 in a total population of about 762,000.
The new Bishop of Springfield, Timothy A. McDonnell, was born in New York City, December 23, 1937. He studied at St. Joseph's Seminary, Yonkers, New York, and was ordained a priest of the New York archdiocese, June 1, 1963.
Bishop McDonnell held parish and other assignments in the Archdiocese of New York, including Vice Chancellor; Director for the Society for the Propagation of the Faith; Episcopal Vicar, Manhattan West; Deputy President of Covenant House; Chief Operating Officer, Catholic Charities; and Vicar General.
He was named Titular Bishop of Semina and Auxiliary Bishop of New York, October 30, 2001.
The Diocese of Springfield comprises the Counties of Berkshire, Franklin, Hampden, and Hampshire in the State of Massachusetts. It has a Catholic population of about 251,000 in a total population of nearly 800,000.
The newly appointed Bishop of Ogdensburg, Robert J. Cunningham, was born in Buffalo, June 18, 1943. He studied at the Diocesan Seminary of Buffalo and the Catholic
University of America, where he earned a Licentiate in Canon Law in 1978. He also received an honorary doctorate from the University of Niagara.
Ordained a priest of the Diocese of Buffalo, May 24, 1969, he held both pastoral and administrative positions including Vice Chancellor, Chancellor, and Vicar General. He served as secretary to two former Bishops of Buffalo, and is a member of the Canon Law Society of America.
Following the transfer last October of Archbishop Henry J. Mansell to Hartford, Bishop-designate Cunningham was elected Diocesan Administrator of Buffalo.
Established in 1872, the Diocese of Ogdensburg has a Catholic population of approximately 143,700 in a total population of 462,000.
Robert W. Finn, named Coadjutor Bishop of Kansas City-St. Joseph, was born in St. Louis, April 2, 1953. He studied at St. Louis Preparatory Seminary, Cardinal Glennon College Seminary, and at the North American College, Rome, where he pursued a Licentiate in Theology at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, the Angelicum.
Ordained a priest of the St. Louis archdiocese, July 7, 1979, he served as an educator, as a parochial vicar in five successive parishes of the archdiocese, and as archdiocesan director, Continuing Formation of Priests. He was named editor of the archdiocesan paper, St. Louis Review, in 1999.
Bishop-designate Finn is co-author (with Rev. Michael Witt) of the book "Archdiocese of St. Louis: Three Centuries of Catholicism, 1700-2000."