Vatican City, Nov 24, 2003 / 22:00 pm
Pope John Paul II appointed Thomas James Olmsted of Wichita, Kansas as the new bishop of Phoenix. Bishop Olmsted will head one of the fastest growing cities in the US, with a catholic population of 500,000.
He replaces Michael J. Sheehan, who was appointed Apostolic Administrator of Santa Fe after a legal scandal caused the resignation of bishop Thomas J. O'Brien.
Thomas James Olmsted was born on January 21, 1947 in Oketo, Kansas and finished his theological studies at Saint Thomas Seminary in Denver, Colorado. He was sent to Rome in 1969 and graduated in theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University, from where he also received a degree in Cannon Law in 1981.
Bishop Olmstead was ordained a priest for the diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska, on July 2, 1973 at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.