Bishop Murry of Virgin Islands named to head Youngstown Diocese

Published: 2007-01-30

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI has named Bishop George V. Murry of St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands to head the Diocese of Youngstown, Ohio. Bishop Murry, 58, succeeds Bishop Thomas J. Tobin, who was appointed bishop of Providence, R.I., in March 2005. The appointment was announced Jan. 30 in Washington by Archbishop Pietro Sambi, apostolic nuncio to the United States. "I am honored to accept the Holy Father's appointment to serve as bishop of Youngstown, and I look forward to meeting and working with the priests, deacons, religious and laity of the diocese," Bishop Murry said in a statement. He will be installed March 28. Bishop Murry, who is one of 10 active U.S. black Catholic bishops, had headed the Diocese of St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands since June 1999. He first went to the diocese when he was appointed coadjutor bishop in May 1998. When Bishop Elliott G. Thomas retired, Bishop Murry automatically succeeded him. Before being appointed to the Virgin Islands diocese, Bishop Murry was a Chicago auxiliary bishop for four years.

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