Washington D.C., Dec 8, 2004 / 22:00 pm
Pope John Paul II has named Msgr. Michael J. Bransfield, rector of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, as Bishop of Wheeling-Charleston.
Bishop-elect Bransfield, 61, was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia May 15, 1971 by the late John Cardinal Krol.
A Philadelphia native, the bishop-elect was educated in the Philadelphia archdiocesan school system and conducted his studies for the priesthood at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Overbrook, Pa., where he received a master’s degree in divinity. He later earned a master’s degree in philosophy from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.
The bishop-elect was assigned to the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception as Director of Liturgy in 1980 and was named its Director of Finance in 1982. He became the National Shrine’s tenth executive director in 1986.