Pope Names 16th Archbishop of Baltimore

Bishop William E. Lori named

Bishop William E. Lori of the Diocese of Bridgeport, Conn., has been named the 16th Archbishop of Baltimore.

Pope Benedict XVI made the announcement Tuesday.

Lori, 60, was born in Louisville, Ky., and ordained a priest in 1977. He became a bishop in 1995 and has served as Bishop of Bridgeport since 2001. The diocese includes more than 460,000 Catholics. The Archdiocese of Baltimore serves 510,000 Catholics in Baltimore and nine counties in central and western Maryland, according to the archdiocese website.

Lori has a bachelor's degree from the Seminary of Saint Pius X in Kentucky and a master's degree from Mount Saint Mary's Seminary in Emmitsburg, Md. He received a doctorate from The Catholic University of America in Washington and has served on several committees of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

His assignment to Baltimore will not be the first time Lori has served in Maryland. According to his biography on the Diocese of Bridgeport's website, his first assignment was as an associate pastor of Saint Joseph Parish in Landover, Md.

Lori will succeed Cardinal Edwin O'Brien, who served as Baltimore's 15th archbishop from October 2007 to August 2011, when he was named grand master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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