Orlando, Fla., Oct 25, 2010 / 13:04 pm
The Vatican announced over the weekend that Pope Benedict appointed a new shepherd for the Orlando diocese in Florida. Bishop John Noonan, who currently serves as an auxiliary in the Archdiocese of Miami, will now serve over 800,000 Catholics as the 5th bishop of the Orlando diocese.
“Vatican II calls Bishops to be fathers and pastors to the people,” Bishop Noonan said on Oct. 23 in response to the news. “I pray that with God’s help I will be able to be a good father and pastor as Bishop of the Diocese of Orlando.”
“I ask that my brother priests and all of God’s people pray for me as I begin my new ministry among you,” he added.
Bishop Noonan will succeed Archbishop Thomas Wenski who led the Diocese of Orlando from 2004 to 2010 and now heads Miami.