This morning, as the majority of Catholic news junkies focused on the appointment of Archbishop Chaput as ninth archbishop of Philadelphia, another appointment was seemingly forgotten. Pope Benedict XVI has accepted the resignation of Bishop J. Kevin Boland of Savannah and has appointed Franciscan Father Gregory Hartmayer as the next bishop of the diocese. Below is a video of the press conference from this morning.

The Mass of Ordination and Installation will take place on Tuesday, October 18th in the Cathedral of John the Baptist in Savannah during a 2 p.m. ceremony.

As widely speculated over recent weeks, this morning, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Archbishop Charles Chaput, 66, as the ninth archbishop of Philadelphia. According to the Catholic News Agency, Pope Benedict handpicked Chaput for the appointment, selecting him over the recommendations by the Congregation for Bishops. (If that doesn’t show us how the Pope really cares about the direction of the Church throughout the world, I don’t know what will.) Until this time, Chaput has served as Archbishop of Denver.

Since becoming the shepherd of Denver in 1997, Chaput has focused most of his efforts on promoting vocations to the priesthood and religious life, advancing the mission of the church, defending its authentic teachings, and embracing its cultural diversity.

According to the Denver archdiocesan website, Chaput has ordained nearly half of the priests serving the estimated 550,000 member church. In 1999, building off of the efforts of its former archbishop, the Archdiocese of Denver established the St. John Vianney Theological Seminary. The establishment of the seminary was not only important for the promotion of vocations to the priesthood but also for the encouragement of vocations to the permanent diaconate and lay ministry.

In 2002, Archbishop Chaput and Bishop Jose Gomez–then Auxiliary Bishop of the Denver church–founded Centro San Juan Diego, an apostolic ministry focused on embracing the Hispanic heritage of the Catholic Church in the West. Chaput also co-founded the Catholic Association of Latino Leaders (CALL) and ENDOW, a Catholic leadership initiative for promoting education on the dignity of women.

Archdiocese of Philadelphia Cathedral

UPDATE: It’s almost official, guys and gals. Tomorrow, Pope Benedict XVI is expected to name Archbishop Charles Chaput as the ninth archbishop of Philadelphia. I’ll have more later. Stay tuned.

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Sometime this week, possibly as early as tomorrow, Pope Benedict XVI is expected to name a successor to Cardinal Rigali in Philadelphia. Over the last several weeks, as news of a possible replacement began to reach fever pitch, many media outlets began offering some interesting speculation as to who the Pope will appoint. Allow me to throw some names in the hat.

• Archbishop Charles Chaput (Denver): Archbishop Chaput, a Capuchin friar and the only Native American to be ordained an archbishop in the United States, has served the people of the Archdiocese of Denver since 1997. Since his appointment to the Mile High City, Chaput has become one of the most outspoken critics of Catholic politicians who support legislation which the church strongly opposes. Previous to Denver, Chaput served as bishop to Catholics in Rapid City, SD.
• Archbishop Joseph Kurtz (Louisville): Archbishop Kurtz, current Vice-President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, was named archbishop of Louisville on June 12, 2007 by Pope Benedict XVI. Prior to his appointment, Kurtz served as bishop of the Diocese of Knoxville. Kurtz was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Allentown, Pennsylvania on March 18, 1972 upon graduating from St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia. As the current Vice-President of the USCCB, Kurtz is poised to become president of the conference once Archbishop Dolan’s tenure comes to an end in a few years. Philadelphia would give him a rather large platform in that endeavor.

As mentioned earlier, this morning Pope Benedict XVI appointed Monsignor Robert Gruss, 55, former Vice-Rector of Rome’s Pontifical North American College, as the eighth bishop of the Diocese of Rapid City. Bishop-elect Gruss succeeds Bishop Blase Cupich, who was sent west in June of last year to shepherd the Diocese of Spokane.

Msgr. Gruss was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Davenport in 1994 after completing his studies at Rome’s North American College. He holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Theology from St. Ambrose University, a Bachelor of Sacred Theology and a Master of Spiritual Theology, both from the Angelicum.

Within the Diocese of Davenport, Gruss has held a variety of positions, including: Director of Vocations, Chancellor, Director of the Propagation of the Faith and Director of the Victim Assistance Program.

Bishop-elect Gruss was named a Chaplain to His Holiness by Pope Benedict in August 2007. Around that same time, Msgr. Gruss was returning to the Pontifical North American College where he would serve as Vice-Rector and Director of Human Formation until 2010. Until this morning, Gruss had been serving in his current position as Rector of Sacred Heart Cathedral in Davenport.

In a press release from the Davenport Diocese [PDF], Bishop-elect Gruss stated: “It is with deep humility and gratitude that I have accepted the Holy Father’s appointment as the next bishop of the Diocese of Rapid City. While it all seems a bit overwhelming at the moment, I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to serve God, the Church and the people of this diocese.”

This morning, Pope Benedict XVI made the following appointments for the United States:

• Monsignor Robert Gruss, priest of the Diocese of Davenport and former Vice-Rector of the North American College in Rome, as bishop of the Diocese of Rapid City in South Dakota.
• Father Donald hying, priest of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee and Rector of St. Francis de Sales Seminary, as auxiliary bishop of the same archdiocese.

More detailed posts are in the works. Check back in a few.