USCCB - (Office of Media Relations) - Pope Names New Bishops For Harrisburg, Columbus And Grand Island, Accepts Resignations Of Bishops Griffin And McNamara

Pope Names New Bishops For Harrisburg, Columbus And Grand Island, Accepts Resignations Of Bishops Griffin And McNamara

WASHINGTON (October 14, 2004) — Pope John Paul II appointed Msgr. Kevin C. Rhoades, rector of Mt. St. Mary's Seminary, Emmitsburg, MD, as Bishop of Harrisburg. He succeeds Bishop Nicholas C. Dattilo who died in March.

The Pope accepted the resignation of Bishop James A. Griffin of Columbus and named Auxiliary Bishop Frederick F. Campbell of St. Paul and Minneapolis as his successor. He accepted the resignation of Bishop Lawrence J. McNamara of Grand Island, Nebraska, and appointed Msgr. William J. Dendinger, pastor of St. Stephen the Martyr Church, Omaha, to succeed him.

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

Kevin Carl Rhoades was born on November 26, 1957 in Mahanoy City, PA.

Upon graduation from St. Mary's College, Emmitsburg, he applied to the diocese of Harrisburg for enrollment in the program of priestly formation. He studied at St. Charles Seminary, Overbrook, and the Gregorian University, Rome, and was ordained July 9, 1983.

He became Rector of Mt. St. Mary's in 1997.

Frederick F. Campbell was born August 5, 1943, in Elmira, NY. He studied at St. Paul's Seminary and Ohio State University and was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis on May 31, 1980. He was named Auxiliary Bishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis on March 2, 1999.

William J. Dendinger was born May 20, 1939 in Omaha. Both his parents died in a car accident when he was a child. Bishop-designate Dendinger received a BA degree at Conception College, Missouri, in 1961. He was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Omaha on May 29, 1965.

Bishop-designate Dendinger is a Major General and former Chaplain in the United States Air Force. As Chief of Chaplains, he was head of almost 1000 Air Force chaplains of different religious affiliations.

James A. Griffin was born June 13, 1934 in Fairview Park, Ohio. He was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Cleveland May 28, 1960, appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Cleveland June 30, 1979, and appointed Bishop of Columbus February 7, 1983.

Lawrence J. McNamara was born in Chicago, August 5, 1928. He studied at St. Paul Seminary and the Catholic University of America and was ordained a priest of the diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph May 30, 1953. He was appointed Bishop of Grand Island on January 10, 1978.