James Vann Johnstone to Diocese of Springfield - Cape Girardeau

The Diocese of Springfield - Cape Girardeau, which serves Catholics in Southern Missouri, had a new priest appointed to serve as its bishop today, as the Vatican bulletino announces:

The Holy Father appointed Msgr. James Vann Johnston of the clergy of Knoxville, U.S.A., chancellor and moderator of the diocesan curia, as bishop of Springfield - Cape Girardeau (area 66,586, population 1,248,000, Catholics 64,900, priests 128, permanent deacons 13, religious 222), U.S.A. The bishop-elect was born in Knoxville in 1959 and ordained a priest in 1990. He succeeds Bishop John J. Leibrecht, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.

Msgr. James Vann Johnston was born in Knoxville, TN, is 48 years of age, has been a priest for 17 years, and was ordained by Bp. Anthony O'Connell of Palm Beach, FL [source: C-H]. Local coverage from the News-Leader.

CNA reports that he is a Canon Lawyer, which is not surprising considering he was in charge of the diocesan curia (maybe having your JCL is even a necessary prerequisite to the post?).

{edit: thanks to Seth for finding us a nice picture of the Bishop-elect.}

Excerpts from a short interview with Fr. Johnston from 2005:

Q: What are you most thankful for?

A: How God has revealed how good and extraordinarily generous he is to me personally and really to everyone.

Q: How will you celebrate your anniversary [to ordination to the priesthood]?

A: I’ll probably offer a Mass of thanksgiving and have dinner with my family.

Q: Who inspired you to become a priest?

A: One would be my mother, in part because of her faith, her generosity, her service, and her love for God and for the church. The other person, significantly, was Pope John Paul II. . . . His whole way of presenting the priesthood was an inspiration to me.

Q: What did your parents think when you first broached the subject of the priesthood?

A: My mother was pleasantly surprised. My dad was surprised, but he had reservations because I had graduated as an engineer and had a very good job with a company in Texas.

He sounds like a fine choice to me. His ordination is scheduled for March 31.

David Cheney of C-H says in the combox that Archbishop Burke is a likely (but not confirmed) consecrator.

In other episcopal news, Rocco reports that Archbishop Daniel Buechlein, OSB, of Indianapolis has been diagnosed with cancer (Hodgkin’s). You can send the Archbishop a prayer intention here. I did.

update: Rocco provides more info on Msgr. Johnstone (and also found a better picture of him). Notable:

A veteran hiker and nature buff, the bishop-elect made the news in 2005 when, on an expedition, he and two friends helped rescue a family who came perilously close to being taken down a steep waterfall at Montana's Glacier National Park. For their courage, the three -- all clerics -- received the Department of the Interior's Citizen Award for Bravery at a DC ceremony.

Much more data available here on the Diocese of Knoxville website press release.