Gallup, N.M., Jan 8, 2010 / 20:32 pm
Bishop emeritus of Gallup, New Mexico Donald E. Pelotte died on Thursday morning at a Florida hospital after a period of illness. He was 64.
Born in Waterville, Maine in 1945, Bishop Pelotte professed religious vows in the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament in August 1967, the Diocese of Gallup reports. He was ordained a priest in September, 1972 and received a doctorate in theology from Fordham University in 1975.
He became the provincial of the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament at the age of 33. At the time he was the youngest major superior of a men’s religious community in the United States.
Then, in 1986, he was appointed third bishop of Gallup by Pope John Paul II.