SOURCE: WLFI | Courtesy of Rocco Palmo–”Whispers in the Loggia”

WASHINGTON—Pope Benedict XVI has named Msgr. Timothy Doherty, 59, pastor of St. Catherine of Siena Parish, in Dundee, Illinois, as Bishop of Lafayette in Indiana, and accepted the resignation of Bishop William Higi, 76, from pastoral governance of the diocese.

The appointment and resignation were publicized in Washington, May 12, by Archbishop Pietro Sambi, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

Timothy L. Doherty was born in Rockford, Illinois, September 29, 1950. He attended St. Mary’s Minor Seminary, Crystal Lake, Illinois, 1964-1968; St. Ambrose College, Davenport, Iowa; 1968-1972; North American College, Rome, 1972-1976; and the Pontifical Lateran University (Academia Alfonsiana), where he earned a Licentiate in Sacred Theology in 1982.

He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Rockford, in 1976.

He earned a Ph.D., in Christian Ethics, from Loyola University, Chicago, in 1995.

Assignments after ordination included Associate Pastor, St. Peter Cathedral, Rockford, 1976-1981; Chairman, Religious Studies, Boylan Central Catholic High School, Rockford, 1982-1986; Assistant Principal, Marian Central Catholic High School, Woodstock, Illinois, 1986-1991.