Today it was announced that the Holy Father accepted the resignation of Bishop Joseph Adamec as the bishop of Altoona-Johnstown, PA, upon having reached the canonical age limit for bishops. It was also announced that Judicial Vicar of the Diocese of Erie, PA, Mark Bartchak, was named to succeed to Bishop Adamec. Bishop-elect Bartchak is 56 years-old and was ordained a priest back in 1981.
With the changes in Pennsylvania, there remain 4 vacant Roman Catholic dioceses in the U.S.: Salina, KS; Fresno, CA; Joliet in Illinois; Rapid City, SD. The Ruthenian archeparchy of Pittsburgh also remains vacant.
With Bishop Adamec's retirement, there are now eight ordinaries serving past age 75- Justin Cardinal Rigali archbishop of Philiadelphia; Bishops Boland of Savannah, GA; Sevilla of Yakima, WA; McCormack of Manchester, NH; Bruskewitz of Lincoln, NE; Galeone of St. Augustine, FL; Zipfel of Bismarck, ND; Gettelfinger of Evansville, IN.
Looking ahead to February, both Cardinal Mahony of Los Angeles, who already has a coadjutor in the person of Archbishop Gómez, and Bishop Thomas Doran of Rockford, Illnois will turn 75, which will require them to submit their resignations to Pope Benedict XVI.
