Vatican City, Dec 12, 2019 / 04:42 am
Pope Francis Thursday accepted the resignation of Bishop Paul Joseph Swain of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and appointed Minnesota priest Fr. Donald Edward DeGrood as his successor.
Bishop of Sioux Falls since 2006, Swain's resignation was accepted after he reached in 2018 the age of 75, the minimum age of retirement for diocesan bishops.
Bishop-elect DeGrood, 54, grew up outside Faribault, Minnesota, one of five boys in a farming family.
A priest of the Saint Paul and Minneapolis archdiocese, he has been pastor of Saint John the Baptist Parish in Savage, Minnesota since 2017.