VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis has named Springfield Massachusetts Bishop Mitchell Rozanski as the next archbishop of St. Louis, Missouri, a diocese long associated with the conservative wing of the U.S. church.
Rozanski replaces Archbishop Robert Carlson, who reached the mandatory retirement age of 75 last year and submitted his resignation to the pope.
The Vatican said Wednesday that Francis had accepted it and named Rozanski to succeed him. The 61-year-old Rozanski is considered a moderate and is taking over an archdiocese that has long been led by conservatives: Prior to Carlson, St. Louis was headed by now-Cardinal Raymond Burke, a leading point of reference for conservatives in the U.S. and beyond.
