WASHINGTON—Pope Benedict XVI has named Bishop Salvatore Cordileone, 52, Auxiliary Bishop of San Diego, as Bishop of Oakland, California.

The appointment was announced in Washington, March 23, by Archbishop Pietro Sambi, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

Bishop Cordileone succeeds Bishop Allen Vigneron, who was named Archbishop of Detroit in January.

Bishop Cordileone was named auxiliary bishop of San Diego, July 5, 2002, after serving as an official of the Supreme Tribunal of the Signatura, Rome, since 1995. As a bishop he served on the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' (USCCB) Committee on Canonical Affairs and Church Governance and on the USCCB Task Force on Cultural Diversity in the Church.

Salvatore Cordileone was born in San Diego, June 5, 1956. Following elementary and secondary school, he began his formation for the priesthood at St. Francis Seminary, San Diego, and then at the North American College and Gregorian University, Rome.

He was ordained a priest for the San Diego Diocese on July 9, 1982. After ordination he served as an assistant pastor. From 1985-1989, he pursued doctoral studies in Canon Law in Rome. From 1989-91 he served as secretary to the diocesan bishop and from 1985-1991 as an official of the Tribunal of the Diocese of San Diego.

From 1991-1995 he was pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish, Calexio. He was named a chaplain to the Holy Father with the title "monsignor" in 1999.

Bishop Cordileone holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of San Diego, a Bachelor of Sacred Theology degree from the Gregorian University, and a Licentiate and Doctorate in Canon Law from the Gregorian University.

The Oakland Diocese includes 1,467 square miles in two California counties, Alameda and Contra Costa, and has a population of 2,481,745 people, with 425,597, or 17 percent, of them Catholic.

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