Bishop John Quinn, 62, an auxiliary bishop in Detroit, was named by the Holy Father as co-adjutor to His Excellency, Bishop Bernard Harrington, of Winona, Minnesota. Bishop Harrington turns 75 in 39 days. Of course, when he turns 75 he is required by canon law to submit his resignation to the Holy See. It remains to be seen if Bishop Quinn will become the ordinary at that precise point in time.
By not transferring another ordinary to Winona, the number of
sede vacante dioceses in the United States still numbers seven: Cheyenne, Wyoming; St. Louis, Missouri; Gallup, New Mexico; Biloxi, Mississippi; Juneau, Alaska; Charleston, South Carolina; Knoxville, Tennessee.
The number of bishops currently serving beyond the mandatory retirement age (i.e., bishops whose resignations the Holy Father has not accepted) is now ten. These ordinaries are: Cardinals Maida and Egan of Detroit and New York respectively. Archbishops Hughes of New Orleans and Curtiss of Omaha, NE. Bishops D'Arcy of Ft. Wayne/South Bend, IN; Murray of Kalamazoo, MI; Moynihan of Syracuse, NY; Tafoya of Pueblo, CO; Cullen of Allentown, PA: Higi of Lafayette in Indiana. Archbishop Brunette of Seattle turns 75 early in 2009. Bishops Peña of Brownsville, TX; Carmody of Corpus Christi, TX are both 74.
