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USCCB News Release
10-033
February 23, 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Pope Names Bishops for Scranton, Pennsylvania; Ogdensburg, New York
WASHINGTON—Pope Benedict XVI has named Msgr. Joseph C. Bambera, 53, administrator of the Diocese of Scranton, Pennsylvania, as bishop of Scranton, and Father Terry R. LaValley, 53, administrator of the Diocese of Ogdensburg, New York, as bishop of Ogdensburg.
The appointments were publicized in Washington, February 23, by Archbishop Pietro Sambi, apostolic nuncio to the United States.
Msgr. Bambera succeeds Bishop Joseph F. Martino who resigned from the diocese last August for health reasons. Father LaValley succeeds Bishop Robert J. Cunningham who was named to the Diocese of Syracuse, New York, last April.
Joseph C. Bambera was born in Carbondale, Pennsylvania, March 21, 1956, and attended St. Rose of Lima elementary and secondary schools there. He attended the University of Pittsburgh, 1974-1978, and University of Scranton 1978-1979.
He pursued seminary studies at Mary Immaculate Seminary, Northampton, Pennsylvania, and was ordained a priest for the Scranton Diocese in 1983. He did post-graduate studies at St. Paul University, Ottawa, Canada, where he was awarded a Doctor of Canon Law degree in 1991. In 1998, he was named a prelate of honor, carrying with it the title “Monsignor.”
Assignments after ordination to the priesthood included assistant pastor, St. Mary of the Assumption Parish, Scranton; assistant pastor, St. Peter’s Cathedral, Scranton; Diocesan Director of Ecumenism and Interfaith Affairs; Administrator, Holy Name of Jesus Parish, Scranton; Diocesan Vicar for Priests; Diocesan Director of Religious Formation; Pastor, St. John Bosco Parish, Conyngham, Pennsylvania; pastor, Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish, Dickson City, Pennsylvania, and pastor, St. Thomas Aquinas Parish, Archbald, Pennsylvania and St. Mary of Czestochowa Parish, Enyon, Pennsylvania.
On August 31, 2009, Cardinal Justin Rigali of Philadelphia and Apostolic Administrator of the Scranton Diocese, appointed Msgr. Bambera as his delegate for the diocese following the resignation of Bishop Martino.
The Diocese of Scranton includes 8,847 square miles. It has a population of 1,090,779 people with 325,243, or 30 per cent, of them Catholic.
Terry Ronald LaValley was born in Plattsburgh, New York, March 26, 1956, and graduated from Northeastern Clinton Central High School, in Champlain, New York. He attended the State University of New York at Plattsburgh for two years before enlisting in the U.S. Navy where he served with distinction, 1977-1983. While in the Navy he completed his undergraduate studies and received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the State University of New York at Albany in 1980.
Father LaValley studied for the priesthood at Wadhams Hall Seminary College in Ogdensburg, where he received a Certificate in Philosophy in 1984. He attended Christ the King Seminary in East Aurora, New York, and received a Master of Divinity degree in 1988.
He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Ogdensburg in 1988.
Father LaValley studied canon law at St. Paul University, Ottawa, where he earned a Master of Canon Law degree in 1994.
Assignments after ordination to the priesthood included parochial vicar, Sacred Heart Parish, Massina, New York; associate secretary, diocesan tribunal; administrator, St. Peter’s Church , Hammond, New York, with St. Patrick’s Mission Church, Rossie, New York; promoter of justice for Diocese of Ogdensburg tribunal; chancellor and episcopal vicar for diocesan services; administrator, St. James Parish, Gouverneur, New York; pastor, Saint Raphael Parish, Heuvelton, New York; and rector, St. Mary’s Cathedral, Ogdensburg.
On May 28, 2009, he was elected the administrator of the diocese by the College of Consultors, following installation of Bishop Cunningham as Bishop of Syracuse.
The Ogdensburg Diocese includes 12,036 square miles. It has a population of 491,898 people with 112,612, or 23 percent, of them Catholic.