NEW YORK – In one of three episcopal appointments in the United States announced on Feb. 12, Pope Francis has appointed a successor to Archbishop Dennis Schnurr of Cincinnati, who has had a checkered tenure, and has been battling cancer since last May.

On Feb. 12, Pope Francis appointed Auxiliary Bishop Robert Casey of Chicago to replace Schnurr, 76, who has led the Archdiocese of Cincinnati since 2009 at the appointment of Pope Benedict XVI. The change was publicized by Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

Schnurr’s 15-plus year tenure has included a few controversies.

In 2019, Schnurr removed Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Binzer from his post as director of priest personnel after he failed to properly report an archdiocesan priest’s inappropriate conduct with minors. Then, in 2021, Schnurr made the controversial decision to appoint Binzer pastor of an archdiocesan parish consisting of two churches.

More recently, Schnurr has been battling health challenges. He was diagnosed with stage 3 small bowel cancer last May, and has been undergoing chemotherapy treatment. It was also announced earlier this week that Schnurr is recovering from a fall and subsequent back surgery.

In a Feb. 12 statement on Casey’s appointment, Schnurr said that “it has been my great honor and privilege to serve the people of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati these past 15 years.”

The Archdiocese of Cincinnati is comprised of 8,543 square miles in the State of Ohio and has a total population of 3,090,762 of which 438,802, are Catholic, according to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Casey, 57, has served as an auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of Chicago – led by close Pope Francis ally Cardinal Blase Cupich – since he was ordained a bishop in 2018 at the appointment of Pope Francis. Most recently, he was the archdiocese’s vicar general. He has held a number of leadership and parish roles in the archdiocese since he was ordained a priest in 1994.

Pope Francis made two other appointments to U.S. dioceses on Feb. 12, including filling one of the nation’s vacant dioceses. Those changes were also publicized by Pierre.

Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Bishop Ralph Walker Nickless, 77, of Sioux City, Iowa, and appointed Father John Keehner, Jr., as his successor. Keehner, 59, is a priest of the Diocese of Youngstown, Ohio, where he currently serves as pastor of four parishes.

Pope Francis also appointed Msgr. Richard Reidy as bishop of the Diocese of Norwich, Connecticut. Reidy, 66, is a priest of the Diocese of Worcester, Massachusetts, where he currently serves as vicar general and moderator of the curia. The Diocese of Norwich has been vacant since last September, when the pontiff accepted the resignation of Bishop Michael Cote.

The Norwich appointment leaves only five U.S. dioceses without a bishop – Houma-Thibodaux, Louisiana; Steubenville, Ohio; Austin, Texas; Providence, Rhode Island; and San Diego, California.

The Archdiocese of Cincinnati appointment in particular is the latest of a number of appointments Pope Francis has made to prominent U.S. dioceses in recent months with a number of bishops at, or reaching, retirement age – making his mark on the hierarchy of the nation’s episcopacy.

Since last August, Pope Francis has appointed new heads of the Archdioceses of Boston, Galveston-Houston, Washington, D.C., Detroit, and Milwaukee. And with six other archdioceses currently led by men past retirement age (75), it’s likely more changes are coming down the pike.

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