Fort Worth Diocese welcomes new bishop, mourns loss of predecessor

Published: 2005-07-25

FORT WORTH, Texas (CNS) -- Catholics in the Diocese of Fort Worth welcomed a new shepherd July 13 and mourned the loss of another. Bishop Kevin W. Vann became the third bishop to lead the 28-county diocese during ordination ceremonies at Texas Christian University's Daniel-Meyer Coliseum. The long-anticipated event, attended by more than 5,000 parishioners, 25 bishops and 125 priests, took place just one day after the unexpected death of Fort Worth Bishop Joseph P. Delaney. The late bishop, who suffered from pancreatic cancer in recent years, had planned to concelebrate the liturgical rite making the bishop-designate his coadjutor bishop. Instead, Bishop Vann, former vicar for clergy and pastor of Blessed Sacrament Church in Springfield, Ill., was installed as Fort Worth's presiding bishop during a three-hour ceremony rich in sacred ritual, pageantry and prayer.

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