This morning the people of the Diocese of Owensboro, Kentucky were given an Advent gift by the Holy Father, one on which they will have to wait on until 10 February 2010, when it was announced that Fr. Bill Medley, a priest of the Archdiocese of Louisville, will be their new bishop. Bishop-elect Medley is a pastor, having spent his life as a parish priest. The bishop elect is a Kentucky native and is 57 years-old.
As St. Ignatius of Antioch wrote:
"Wheresoever the bishop appears, there let the people be, even as wheresoever Christ is, there is the Catholic Church." Bishop + people (numbered among the people, serving them on behalf of the bishop are presbyters and deacons)=ekklesia (i.e., Church).
With Bishop-elect Medley's appointment, there are six vacant Latin rite sees in the U.S.: Ogdensburg, NY; Springfield, Il; Austin, TX; Scranton, PA; Harrisburg, PA; LaCrosse, WI. Also in the U.S. there are currently six Roman Catholic prelates serving beyond 75, whose resignations the Holy Father has yet to accept.
UPDATE: Last week the Holy See announced the appointment of Bishop Daniel Flores, an auxiliary in Detroit, as the next bishop of the Diocese of Brownsville, Texas. He will replace Bishop Raymundo Peña, whose resignation was accepted by the Holy Father upon his having reached the age limit. Bishop Flores is 48 and a native of South Texas.
