Oct 8, 2003 / 22:00 pm
The new bishop of the Diocese of Toledo said he expects lay people to continue to have a vital role in his diocesan Church. Bishop Leonard Paul Blair added that one of his first missions will be to meet with Church leaders and priests.
Pope John Paul II appointed Bishop Blair Oct. 7 to succeed Bishop James Hoffman, who died of cancer at age 70 in February.
According to an Associated Press report, the 53-year-old bishop promised to be a "teacher, a priest and shepherd" for the Church of Toledo.
Bishop Blair was born in Detroit in 1949. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1976. He completed a bachelor of arts in History from Sacred Heart Seminary College in Detroit, and a bachelor of sacred theology, as well as a licentiate in theology with a specialization in patristics and the history of theology, from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. He later completed a doctorate in theology at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas.