Other Pontifical Acts

Vatican City, 21 July 2015 (VIS) – The Holy Father has:

- accepted the resignation from the office of auxiliary of the archdiocese of Los Angeles, U.S.A., presented by Bishop Gerald E. Wilkerson upon reaching the age limit.

- appointed Msgr. Joseph V. Brennan, Msgr. David G. O'Connell, and Fr. Robert E. Barron as auxiliaries of the archdiocese of Los Angeles (area 14,019, population 11,852,427, Catholics 4,276,930, priests 1,111, permanent deacons 383, religious 2,229), U.S.A.

Bishop-elect Brennan was born in Van Nuys, U.S.A. in 1954 and was ordained a priest in 1980. He has served in a number of pastoral and administrative roles in the archdiocese of Los Angeles, including parish vicar, parish priest, chaplain, member of the presbyteral council, vicar general and moderator of the curia. In 2005 he was named Chaplain of His Holiness.

Bishop-elect O'Connell was born in Cork, Ireland in 1953 and was ordained a priest in 1979. He has served in a number of pastoral and administrative roles in the archdiocese of Los Angeles, including parish vicar, parish priest, dean and member of the presbyteral council and parish administrator. In 1999 he was named Prelate of Honour.

Bishop-elect Barron was born in Chicago, U.S.A. in 1959 and was ordained a priest in 1986. He holds a masters in philosophy from the Catholic University of America in Washington, a licentiate in theology from the University of St. Mary of the Lake, Chicago, and a doctorate in theology from the Institut Catholique, Paris, France. He has served in a number of pastoral and academic roles, including parish vicar, professor of systematic theology at the University of St. Mary of the Lake, founder and executive director of the Word on Fire Catholic Ministries, visiting professor at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana, and at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) in Rome, scholar in residence at the Pontifical North American College in Rome and Francis Cardinal George Professor of Faith and Culture at the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary. He is currently rector and president of the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary.

- appointed Cardinal Josip Bozanic, archbishop of Zagreb, Croatia, as his special envoy to the celebration of the 300th anniversary of the founding of the Shrine of the Miraculous Madonna of Sinj in the archdiocese of Spalato-Makarska, Croatia, to be held on 15 August.