Pope appoints new bishop of Salina, U.S.A

Vatican City, Oct 20, 2004 / 22:00 pm

Pope John Paul II this morning appointed Fr. Paul S. Coakley of the clergy of Wichita, U.S.A., and vice chancellor and administrator of the Church of the Magdalen, as bishop of Salina (area 69,087, population 325,112, Catholics 48,510, priests 80, religious 219), U.S.A.

Bishop-elect Coakley was born 1955 in Norfolk, U.S.A. and was ordained a priest in 1983. He succeeds Bishop George K. Fitzsimons whose resignation the Pope accepted upon having reached the age limit.