Vatican City, Mar 7, 2017 / 08:54 am
The Vatican announced Tuesday that Pope Francis has chosen Msgr. Mark S. Rivituso, currently the archdiocese's Vicar General, to be the next auxiliary bishop of St. Louis under Archbishop Robert J. Carlson.
"I am profoundly touched by the confidence the Holy Father has placed in me," he said in a statement March 7. "I have asked him to keep me in his prayers and I have assured him of my prayers, respect, and obedience."
"At the same time I am honored that I can in some way assist Archbishop Carlson in his pastoral service to the Archdiocese of St. Louis."
Rivituso, 55, was born in St. Louis Sept. 20, 1961, the sixth of eight children. As a child he had a close relationship with his grandmother, who was the influence behind his devotion to the Rosary, the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the St. Louis Review reports.
He told the paper that he had also been an altar server, which is when he "started hearing the call from Jesus to become a priest."
The bishop-elect then attended Catholic grade school and high school in St. Louis, as well as Cardinal Glennon College and Kenrick Seminary, earning a master's degree and a licentiate in canon and civil law from St. Paul University in Ottawa, Canada.