Mississippi priest installed as 11th bishop of Louisiana diocese

Published: 2005-01-12

ALEXANDRIA, La. (CNS) -- Hundreds filled St. Francis Xavier Cathedral in Alexandria and hundreds more watched on closed-circuit television from across the street as Msgr. Ronald P. Herzog was ordained the 11th bishop of Alexandria Jan. 5. The 62-year-old bishop had been pastor of Immaculate Conception Parish in Laurel, Miss., and two other Mississippi parishes until Pope John Paul II appointed him to the Louisiana diocese Nov. 4. Among the approximately 20 bishops participating in the episcopal ordination and installation were Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo, papal nuncio to the United States; Archbishop Alfred C. Hughes of New Orleans; Bishop Thomas J. Rodi of Biloxi, Miss.; Bishop Robert W. Muench of Baton Rouge, La.; and Bishop William B. Friend of Shreveport, La. Archbishop Hughes told the congregation -- which also included more than 150 priests from throughout the region, as well as religious sisters and brothers and deacons -- that Bishop Herzog "brings remarkable experience to his new role."

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