Pope Names New Bishop For Biden’s Diocese
More than two years after reaching the mandatory retirement age of 75, Bishop William F. Malooly of Wilmington, Delaware, is stepping down.
Pope Francis accepted the resignation of President Joe Biden’s 77-year-old bishop April 30 and named Msgr. William Koenig, vicar for clergy for the Diocese of Rockville Centre, to succeed him.
The changes were announced in Washington by Archbishop Christophe Pierre, the Vatican nuncio to the United States.
Bishop Malooly, a native of Baltimore, has led the diocese of Delaware and Maryland’s Eastern Shore since 2008 and celebrated the 50th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood in 2020.
Bishop-designate Koenig, 64, was born in Queens and ordained for the Diocese of Rockville Centre in 1983. He will be ordained July 13 at St. Elizabeth Church in Wilmington.
“I am humbled by the Holy Father’s decision to appoint me as the 10th bishop of the vibrant and grace-filled Diocese of Wilmington,” he said, adding that he “cannot wait to meet the faithful of the diocese.”
Bishop Malooly said the diocese was “very fortunate” to have Bishop-designate Koenig as its next leader. “God has richly blessed us and we give thanks to God for this wonderful gift,” he added.
Bishop-designate Koenig has been a leader in the Rockville Centre Diocese, serving as rector of St. Agnes Cathedral before he was appointed vicar for clergy in 2020. Rockville Centre is the eighth largest diocese in the United States.
Pope Francis greets Bishop William F. Malooly of Wilmington, Del., during a meeting with U.S. bishops from Regions IV and V making their “ad limina” visits to the Vatican, Dec. 3, 2019. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
His first assignment as a priest was to the parish of St. Edward the Confessor in Syosset, New York. After five years at St. Edward’s, he served for one year at St. James Parish in Setauket where he also assisted in the campus ministry program at State University of Stony Brook.
In 1989, he was appointed the diocesan director of vocations and the following year he also was assigned as diocesan director of ministry to priests. In the years following, he served as parochial vicar at St. Agnes Cathedral in Rockville Centre, pastor of St. William the Abbot in Seaford and rector of St. Agnes Cathedral in Rockville Centre. He was named a monsignor in 2007.
The bishop-designate grew up in East Meadow, where he and his family were parishioners of St. Raphael’s Church. He attended St. Raphael’s Elementary School, St. Pius X Preparatory Seminary in Uniondale, Cathedral College in Douglaston and the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception in Huntington. After ordination, he also attended Fordham University and received a master’s degree in social work.
He is the son of the late Alfred and Mary Koenig. He has two brothers, Joseph and Michael, and six nephews and nieces.
Two years ago, after being named as priest personnel adviser to Bishop John O. Barres of Rockville Centre, the bishop described then-Msgr. Koenig as “one of our beloved and deeply experienced pastors.”
https://spiritdaily.org/blog/news/pope-names-new-bishop-for-bidens-diocese
New Bishop Mum On Communion For Biden
From America:
The newly appointed bishop of Joe Biden’s home diocese in Delaware said Friday he would gladly speak with the president about his views on abortion but did not say whether he would allow him to continue receiving Communion, as his predecessor has.
During a news conference in which retiring Wilmington Bishop Francis Malooly introduced Monsignor William Koenig to his new flock, Koenig said he was open to having a conversation with the president on the issue and that as a bishop, he is called to teach “the fullness and the beauty of the Catholic faith.”
https://spiritdaily.org/blog/news/46416
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