USCCB - (Office of Media Relations) - Pope Accepts Archbishop Kelly's Resignation, Appoints Bishop Kurtz of Knoxville as Archbishop of Louisville

Pope Accepts Archbishop Kelly's Resignation, Appoints Bishop Kurtz of Knoxville as Archbishop of Louisville

WASHINGTON (June 12, 2007)—Pope Benedict XVI accepted the resignation of Archbishop Thomas C. Kelly, O.P., of Louisville and appointed Bishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Knoxville as his successor.

Archbishop Pietro Sambi, Apostolic Nuncio to the United States, made the announcement.

Thomas Cajetan Kelly was born July 14, 1931, in Rochester, NY. He studied at Regis High School in New York City, Ithaca High School in Ithaca, and for two years at Providence College in Rhode Island before joining the Dominicans in 1951. He was ordained a priest on June 5, 1958.

Archbishop Kelly holds a licentiate in theology from the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C., and a doctorate in Canon Law from the University of St. Thomas in Rome. He also did graduate work at the University of Vienna and Cambridge University.

From 1962 to 1965 he was secretary in the office of the provincial of the Dominicans' New York province. He joined the staff of the Apostolic Delegation in Washington, D.C., in 1965 and served there as secretary and archivist until he became Associate General Secretary of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops and United States Catholic Conference (now United States Conference of Catholic Bishops) on June 1, 1971. He was appointed General Secretary in 1977 and remained in that post until 1981.

Archbishop Kelly was named Titular Bishop of Tusuro and Auxiliary Bishop of Washington, July 12, 1977, and ordained August 15, 1977. He was appointed Archbishop of Louisville on December 29, 1981, and installed February 18, 1982.

Joseph Edward Kurtz was born August 18, 1946, in Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania.

He studied at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia and did post-graduate work at Marywood College in Scranton, where he earned a Masters in Social Work.

Archbishop Kurtz was ordained a priest of the Allentown diocese on March 18, 1972.

He served in parish assignments and taught at St. Pius X Seminary in Dalton, PA. From 1985 to 1991 he was moderator of the Department of Social Welfare of the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference.

Archbishop Kurtz was serving as Allentown director of Catholic Charities and pastor of Notre Dame of Bethlehem Church in Bethlehem, PA, when he was appointed Bishop of Knoxville, October 26, 1999.

Archbishop Kurtz is Chairman of the Committee on Marriage and Family Life, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).

The Archdiocese of Louisville was established at Bardstown, Kentucky, April 8, 1808 and transferred to Louisville February 13, 1841. It was created an archdiocese December 10, 1937. The archdiocese comprises 24 counties in central Kentucky and has a Catholic population of nearly 200,000 in a total population of about 1,180,000.