Oklahoma City, Okla., Dec 16, 2010 / 10:48 am
Bishop Paul S. Coakley of Salina, Kansas will become the new Archbishop of Oklahoma City, the Vatican announced today.
Pope Benedict XVI appointed the new archbishop on Dec. 16, after accepting Archbishop Eusebius J. Beltran's retirement at the age of 76.
Bishop Coakley, 55, has lived in the Midwest for much of his life, although he briefly considered a vocation to traditional Benedictine monasticism in France before becoming a priest for the Diocese of Wichita in 1983. After 21 years as a diocesan priest, he received his episcopal consecration and became the Bishop of Salina in 2004.
As head of the Diocese of Salina, Bishop Coakley has strongly criticized Catholic politicians who support the legality of abortion –which he has publicly compared to genocide– as well as voters who support such candidates without a “proportionately grave moral reason” for doing so.