Pope Names Rockford, Illinois Pastor to Succeed Bishop William Higi as Bishop of Lafayette in Indiana

WASHINGTON—Pope Benedict XVI has named Msgr. Timothy Doherty, 59, pastor of St. Catherine of Siena Parish, in Dundee, Illinois, as Bishop of Lafayette in Indiana, and accepted the resignation of Bishop William Higi, 76, from pastoral governance of the diocese.
           
The appointment and resignation were publicized in Washington, May 12, by Archbishop Pietro Sambi, apostolic nuncio to the United States.
           
Timothy L. Doherty was born in Rockford, Illinois, September 29, 1950. He attended St. Mary’s Minor Seminary, Crystal Lake, Illinois, 1964-1968; St. Ambrose College, Davenport, Iowa; 1968-1972; North American College, Rome, 1972-1976; and the Pontifical Lateran University (Academia Alfonsiana), where he earned a Licentiate in Sacred Theology in 1982.
           
He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Rockford, in 1976.
           
He earned a Ph.D., in Christian Ethics, from Loyola University, Chicago, in 1995.
           
Assignments after ordination included Associate Pastor, St. Peter Cathedral, Rockford, 1976-1981; Chairman, Religious Studies, Boylan Central Catholic High School, Rockford, 1982-1986; Assistant Principal, Marian Central Catholic High School, Woodstock, Illinois, 1986-1991.
           
In 1995 he was named Diocesan Ethicist for Health Care, a position he holds presently.   

Other assignments included Parochial Administrator, St. James Parish, Lee, Illinois, 1999; Pastor, St. Mary Parish, Byron, Illinois, 1999-2007; Pastor, St. Catherine of Siena Parish, Dundee and St. Mary Mission Church, Gilberts, Illinois, 2007 to present.

Bishop Higi was named Bishop of Lafayette in 1984. He was ordained a priest for that diocese in 1959. He served there as an associate pastor, secretary to the bishop, vice-chancellor, chancellor and vicar general. While he was vicar general he was elected administrator of the diocese after the death of his predecessor in 1984.