Pope Names Msgr. Joseph Strickland Bishop Of Tyler, Texas

WASHINGTON—Pope Benedict XVI has named53-year-old Msgr. Joseph E. Strickland, vicar general of the Diocese of Tyler,Texas, as bishop of Tyler.

Theappointment was publicized in Washington, September 29, by Archbishop Carlo MariaViganò, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

Bishop-electStrickland succeeds Bishop Alvaro Corrada del Rio, S.J., who was named bishopof the Diocese of Mayaguez in Puerto Rico in 2011. Bishop Corrada served as ApostolicAdministrator of the Tyler Diocese until this appointment.

JosephE. Strickland was born October 31, 1958, in Fredericksburg, Texas. He attendedthe University of Dallas and Holy Trinity Seminary, Dallas, 1977-1985, and wasawarded a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Dallas in 1981 and a Masterof Divinity degree from Holy Trinity Seminary, in 1985.

He was ordained a priest in 1985, forthe Diocese of Dallas. The Diocese of Tyler was created in 1986.

In 1994, Bishop-elect Strickland wasawarded a licentiate in canon law from The Catholic University of America.

Assignmentsafter ordination included parochial vicar, Immaculate Conception Church, Tyler,1985; diocesan vocations director, 1987; diocesan scout chaplain, 1988;parochial vicar, Sacred Heart Church, 1989; rector of the Cathedral of theImmaculate Conception, Tyler, 1994; diocesan tribunal, 1994.

In1995, he was named a prelate of honor with the title monsignor and in 2010, hewas appointed vicar general of the Tyler diocese.

The Diocese of Tyler includes1,396,736 persons, with 54,746, or four percent of them Catholic. It comprises23,443 square miles.

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