BREAKING: Pope names Steubenville’s Bishop Monforton as Detroit’s 32nd auxiliary bishop
A native son of the Archdiocese of Detroit, Steubenville Bishop Jeffrey M. Monforton will return home to serve as Detroit’s 32nd auxiliary bishop, the Vatican announced.
Pope Francis’ appointment of Bishop Monforton, who since 2012 has served as the bishop of Steubenville, Ohio, was made public early Sept. 28.
Bishop Monforton, 60, will assist Detroit Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron in the pastoral care of the approximately 907,000 Catholics in the Archdiocese of Detroit, where he served for 18 years as a priest from 1994 to 2012.
“On behalf of the clergy, religious, and faithful of the Archdiocese, I offer a heartfelt ‘welcome home’ to Bishop Monforton,” Archbishop Vigneron said. “This is the local Church in which his priestly vocation was nurtured, and we are blessed to have him be with us once again to help lead our efforts to unleash the Gospel.”
Bishop Monforton was scheduled to give a 10 a.m. news conference Thursday in Steubenville to address the pope’s appointment. In conjunction with the appointment, Pope Francis named retired Kalamazoo Bishop Paul J. Bradley as apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Steubenville.
“I was pleased to learn of my appointment by the Holy Father, Pope Francis, as auxiliary bishop of Detroit,” Bishop Monforton said. “This appointment is bittersweet for me: My hometown is Detroit, and I look forward to ‘going home’ and serving the faithful of Detroit under the leadership of Archbishop Vigneron.
