WobLog

Ever since then-Bishop Vigneron was appointed Archbishop of Detroit, we've been praying for a new bishop, and speculating amongst friends about who the new bishop might be. Among our fellow parishioners, one name clearly stood out. Well, lo and behold...

From today's Vatican Information Service Bulletin:

OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

 

VATICAN CITY, 23 MAR 2009 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed Bishop Salvatore Cordileone, auxiliary of San Diego, U.S.A., as bishop of Oakland (area 3,798, population 2,466,692, Catholics 406,947, priests 433, permanent deacons 112, religious 843), U.S.A.

Here's a news release with more details:

OAKLAND, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Pope Benedict XVI has named Bishop Salvatore Joseph Cordileone, 52, as the Fourth Bishop of Oakland. Bishop Cordileone until now has been Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of San Diego. His installation as Bishop of Oakland will take place at noon on May 5, 2009 at Oakland's Cathedral of Christ the Light.

On January 5, 2009, Oakland's Bishop Allen Vigneron was appointed Archbishop of Detroit and was installed in that office on January 28. At that time priests in Oakland's College of Consultors elected Fr. Daniel E. Danielson as Diocesan Administrator, to manage day-to-day business of the Diocese until a new bishop was named.

Fr. Danielson will introduce Bishop Salvatore Cordileone at a news conference on Monday, March 23, at 10 a.m. at the Cathedral of Christ the Light. Media should enter through the main conference center entrance at 2121 Harrison Street, Oakland.

Bishop Salvatore Cordileone

Bishop Cordileone was born in 1956 in San Diego, California, where he and his family were members of Blessed Sacrament Parish. He entered the seminary in San Diego in 1975, received his B.A. in Philosophy from the University of San Diego in 1978 and went on for theology studies in Rome at the Pontifical North American College. He received the Bachelor's Degree in Sacred Theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in 1981.

After being ordained a priest in 1982, Bishop Cordileone served as associate pastor in La Mesa, California before again returning to study in Rome. He received the Doctoral Degree in Canon Law from Gregorian University in 1989. Returning to San Diego he held various diocesan positions and from 1991 served as pastor at a parish in Calexico, California until 1995 when he returned to Rome.

For the next seven years Bishop Cordileone served as an assistant at the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, the Vatican's highest judicial court. On July 5, 2002, Pope John Paul II appointed him as Auxiliary Bishop for the Diocese of San Diego and he was installed by Bishop Robert Brom the following month.

The Diocese of Oakland

As Bishop of Oakland, Bishop Cordileone will be the chief shepherd for over 550,000 Catholics who reside in Alameda and Contra Costa counties. The Diocese of Oakland was created in 1962 and is comprised of 84 parishes within Alameda and Contra Costa counties. The First Bishop of Oakland was the Most Reverend Floyd Begin who served from 1962 until his death in 1977. He was succeeded by Bishop John Cummins who retired in 2003 and was succeeded by Bishop Vigneron. Bishop Vigneron was appointed Archbishop of Detroit in January of this year and Fr. Daniel Danielson has been acting as Diocesan Administrator since that time.

More info on Bishop Cordileone can be found here, here, and here (Bishop Cordileone celebrated a Novus Ordo Mass in the newly inaugurated TAC Chapel ad orientem in Latin).