Bishop Gerald Barnes, who has led the Diocese of San Bernardino for 23 years, announced Wednesday, Aug. 7, that he will be resigning next June, on his 75th birthday, as church law requires.
Pope Francis will soon name a “coadjutor bishop” to succeed Barnes, the longest current serving bishop of a Catholic diocese in the nation, diocesan spokesman John Andrews said. Such a bishop assists the bishop in administration of the diocese before taking the helm.
“The next 12 months will be a year unlike any other in recent memory in our Diocese,” Barnes said in a statement released by the Diocese on Wednesday, Aug. 7, that will be posted on the diocese’s website. “It will be a time of ending, of new beginnings and, for me, a time of transition.”
“We’ll soon receive a Coadjutor Bishop, who will spend the year getting to know our Diocese and working with me before he becomes the Ordinary Bishop when I retire,” said Barnes, adding that his successor will be the diocese’s third bishop since its establishment in 1978 under Bishop Phillip Straling.
Full story at The San Bernardino Sun.
Earlier this year, many of us sent Bishop Barnes a petition to have a full-time Latin Mass parish out here in or near the Coachella Valley. Praying that he grants us this request before he leaves.
I too pray that there are enough full-time Latin Masses to meet parishoner’s level of support.
In addition to prayers, perhaps phone calls and/or visits to the Chancery might help convince the ‘powers that be’ that the request is serious.
It would be great if we got a Bishop like Strickland or Paprocki, but with Wuerl having a say it is most unlikely.
I would like to see Bishop Howard Lincoln. He’s pastoral and would be a good match for the diocese.
Where is Bishop Howard Lincoln from?
There is no Bishop Howard Lincoln. There is a Monsignor Howard Lincoln who is the pastor of Sacred Heart Church in Palm Desert, a church where the Latin Mass is celebrated every Sunday at 2:30 PM. As for the Monsignor, he will be retiring next June as well.
How about one of the more Traditional Orders who uses the Extraordinary Form exclusively!