Pope Francis appoints new bishop of Burlington, Vermont

CNA Staff, May 6, 2024 / 11:52 am

Pope Francis has appointed Vermont priest John McDermott as the bishop of the Diocese of Burlington in that state, the Vatican announced Monday.

The Burlington bishopric was previously headed by Bishop Christopher Coyne, whom Pope Francis named as coadjutor archbishop of Hartford, Connecticut, last year and who on May 1 took over as archbishop there.

McDermott has been serving as administrator of the Burlington Diocese since October of last year.

The bishop-elect was born in New Jersey in 1963. He attended Belmont Abbey College in North Carolina and obtained a master’s degree in divinity, as well as a master’s in theology and Scripture, from Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Maryland. He also holds a licentiate in canon law from the Catholic University of America.

He was ordained to the priesthood in the Burlington Diocese in 1989. He has served a variety of pastoral and administrative roles in the diocese since then, including as chaplain at Middlebury College. He has also held the positions of both vice chancellor and chancellor of the diocese, as well as diocesan vicar general and moderator of the curia.

McDermott is one of 10 siblings, according to the Diocese of Burlington. He was named a Prelate of Honor in 2012, granting him the title Monsignor. 

The Burlington Diocese is the only diocese in the state of Vermont. It consists of approximately 75 parishes of about 100,000 Catholics.