New arch/bishops for Milwaukee and Fort Wayne-South Bend!

With Vatican rumors, you win some, and you lose some.

I was right that a new bishop would be announced for Fort Wayne-South Bend today, and Rocco was right that a new one would be announced for Milwaukee as well.

I was wrong that Bishop D'Arcy's replacement would be Bishop Thomas Paprocki, an auxiliary bishop in Chicago. The Holy Spirit has other plans for him. 

I was right back in October to "put my money on" Bishop Jerome Listecki of La Crosse, WI to fill the vacancy in Milwaukee left by Archbishop Dolan's appointment to New York City. 

But of course, it's not about me - this is about rejoicing with the Catholics of Milwaukee and Fort Wayne-South Bend that they both now have wonderful and worthy successors of the apostles appointed to serve them.

From the USCCB announcement:

Pope Benedict XVI has named Bishop Jerome E. Listecki of La Crosse, Wisconsin, 60, as Archbishop of Milwaukee, and Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, 51, as Bishop of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana.

Archbishop-designate Listecki was born in Chicago, March 12, 1949. He attended Quigley South High School, Loyola University, and St. Mary of the Lake Seminary, Mundelein, Illinois. He was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Chicago in 1975, and named an Auxiliary Bishop of Chicago in 2000, and Bishop of La Crosse in 2004. He holds a Doctorate in Canon Law from the University of St. Thomas Aquinas and a Doctorate in Sacred Theology from the Gregorian University, both in Rome.

The Archdiocese of Milwaukee has 4,758 square miles. It has a population of 2,303,859 people, with 643,775, or 26 per cent, of them Catholic.

[More information on the Milwaukee and La Crosse arch/diocesan websites.]

Bishop Rhoades was born November 26, 1957, in Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania. He studied for the priesthood at St. Charles Seminary, Overbrook, Pennsylvania, and the Gregorian University and was ordained to the priesthood in 1983. He became rector of St. Mary’s Seminary, Emmitsburg, Maryland in 1997, and was named Bishop of Harrisburg in 2004. He holds Licentiates in Canon Law and Sacred Theology from the Gregorian University.

The Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend has a population of 1,262,788 people, with 157,703, or 12 per cent, of them Catholic. [More information on the diocesan website.]

Whispers also has coverage.