Pope Names Indianapolis Pastor Bishop Of Cheyenne, Wyoming

WASHINGTON—Pope Benedict XVI named Father Paul D. Etienne, 50, pastor of St. Paul Church in Tell City, Indiana, as Bishop of Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Publication of the appointment was announced in Washington, October 19, by Archbishop Pietro Sambi, apostolic nuncio to the United States.
           
Bishop-elect Etienne succeeds Bishop David L. Ricken, who was named Bishop of Green Bay, Wisconsin, July 9, 2008.
           
Paul Etienne was born June 15, 1959, in Tell City. He graduated from Tell City High School and the University of St. Thomas, in St. Paul, Minnesota, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in business. He attended North American College, Rome, and was ordained for the Archdiocese of Indianapolis in 1992. He holds Bachelor and Licentiate of Theology degrees from the Gregorian University, Rome.
           
Assignments after ordination included Associate Pastor, St. Barnabas Parish, Indianapolis, 1992-93; Associate Director of Vocations, 1993; graduate studies in Rome, 1994; Archdiocesan Director of Vocations, 1995-1998; Pastor, Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish, New Albany, Indiana, 1998-2008, with additional pastorate in 2002, at St. John the Baptist Parish, New Albany; Vice-rector, Bishop Simon Bruté College Seminary, Indianapolis, 2008- present; Pastor, St. Simon the Apostle and St. John the Evangelist parishes, Indiana, 2008; and Pastor, St. Paul Parish, Tell City, 2009.  
           
The Cheyenne Diocese comprises the state of Wyoming and Yellowstone National Park and includes 97,548 square miles. The total population of the diocese is estimated at 515,000 people, with 52,397, or ten percent, of them Catholic.

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