Good morning, folks! At Roman noontime today, the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, named Fr. David O’Connell, outgoing president of the Catholic University of American and a Vincentian Father, as Coadjutor Bishop of the Diocese of Trenton. As Coadjutor Bishop in Trenton, the Bishop-elect will succeed Bishop John Smith when the Holy Father accepts his resignation as Bishop.  Bishop-elect O’Connel will be ordained to the Episcopacy on July 30, 2010.

Below is the announcement from Bishop Smith:

Coadjutor Bishop-Elect O'Connell

When the Holy Father’s personal representative to the United States, Archbishop Pietro Sambi, Apostolic Nuncio, informed me that Pope Benedict XVI had appointed the Very Reverend David M. O’Connell, C.M. as Coadjutor Bishop of Trenton, I instantly knew that the future of the Diocese of Trenton would be in good and capable hands. A Coadjutor bishop comes to a diocese with the right of succession. That is he automatically becomes the bishop of the diocese upon the death or retirement of his predecessor. Coadjutor Bishop-elect David M. O’Connell will succeed me as Bishop of Trenton when the Holy Father accepts my resignation. Church law regulates that a bishop must submit his resignation to the Holy Father on his seventy fifth birthday. The Pope then decides when the resignation will be accepted and became effective. By God’s good grace and love, I will be seventy five on June 23 of this year 2010.

How blessed the Diocese of Trenton is to receive as coadjutor bishop, a priest of David O’Connell’s experience, scholastic depth, pastoral sensitivity and national reputation. A member of the Eastern province of the Congregation of the Missions ( the Vincentians) Coadjutor Bishop-elect O’Connell stepped down this year after completing twelve years as the President of The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

Archbishop Wenski during June 1st Mass of Installation

On the afternoon of June 1st, Archbishop Thomas Wenski took the reigns of the Archdiocese of Miami. Emerging from outside the Cathedral of St. Mary after  the customary three knocks on the front door, Archbishop Wenski processed into the cathedral of the archdiocese to applause from the congregation. The Mass, which began shortly after 2 o’clock, was aired live on EWTN, CatholicTV, and the Archdiocese of Miami website.

At the beginning of the Mass, Archbishop John C. Favalora welcomed those in attendance, including some 500 priests, 40+ bishops, a Prince of the Catholic Church (Sean Cardinal O’Malley), religious men and women, seminarians, and lay faithful. In his remarks, Archbishop Favalora stated: “Today we all welcome Archbishop Wenski back home.” Favalora shared, “I can attest Archbishop, God does provide.”

So, to begin, I would like to simply apologize for finishing this “Year in Review” a bit later than even I anticipated. Over the last several days, I have been resting, relaxing and even doing yard work outside. It seems that when I left home for the seminary in Miami my parents had no one to work on the yard. So, they let it go by the wayside. That is going to change over the next couple of weeks. Okay, so…where were we? Oh yes, Spring VAW.

The spring semester’s Vocations Awareness Weekend was so much more profound than the fall semester’s VAW. This time around, the seminary capped the number of young men who could attend to at about 70. Each of the seven dioceses of the Province of Miami brought priests and young men discerning God’s will for the their lives. The quality of guys that attended the weekend was a lot better than I had previously experienced. The men who came down know that there is something tugging at their hearts; they know that the Lord is calling them to do something special with their lives. In an increasingly materialistic world, the courage these young men exhibited in simply coming on the weekend was incredible. The Lord was working in so many ways!!

SOURCE: Archdiocese of Miami

At this morning’s press conference in Miami (as mentioned in the previous post), Archbishop-designate Wenski gave the following remarks. Most of the remarks were also made in a video presentation that was posted on the website for the Diocese of Orlando earlier this morning.

This morning, upon the acceptance of Archbishop Favalora’s request to retire, Pope Benedict XVI appointed me as the fourth Archbishop of the Metropolitan See of Miami.

Jesus once bid Peter “Duc in altum” (Put out into the deep). Now Peter’s successor has asked me to do the same in entrusting to me this new responsibility. I am being called back to this local Church where I was ordained a priest and where I served as a parish priest and auxiliary bishop. Humbled by the Holy Father’s confidence in me and aware of my own limitations and shortcomings, I once again ask the intercession of Mary, Mother of the Church, that I may worthily fulfill my new duties as the fourth Archbishop of Miami upon my installation on June 1, 2010.