The Reverend Monsignor David J. Malloy has been elected General Secretary of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).

A priest of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, Msgr. Malloy has served as a USCCB Associate General Secretary for the past five years.

In his new post he succeeds Msgr. William P. Fay, who became General Secretary in 2001 and will leave that position on February 2, 2006.

The General Secretary serves a term of five years which can be extended for a year at a time.He studied for the priesthood at St. Francis de Sales Seminary, Milwaukee, and the North American College, Rome, and was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee on July 1, 1983.While in the diplomatic corps, he served as secretary to the apostolic nunciatures in Pakistan and Syria.

He also served as secretary to the Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations in New York.Monsignor Malloy was serving in the Prefecture of the Papal Household prior to his appointment to the USCCB. He became USCCB Associate General Secretary on January 15, 2001.

His duties involved supervision of about one third of the departments, offices, and secretariats of the Conference. He also acted as liaison to several outside groups affiliated with the Conference, and worked with two other associate general secretaries in matters of supervision and administration.

The election took place November 15 at the USCCB Fall meeting. Msgr. John J. Strynkowski, former Executive Director of the USCCB Secretariat for Doctrine and Pastoral Practices, was the other candidate in the election of a new General Secretary for the bishops’ national organization.He succeeds Monsignor William Fay of Boston, who told the bishops his years as general secretary were "an extraordinarily painful time in the life of the church," referring to the priestly sex-abuse scandal.