Dallas priest ordained as new bishop for Diocese of Shreveport, La.

Published: 2008-05-21

SHREVEPORT, La. (CNS) -- The Diocese of Shreveport has a new leader, following the May 19 episcopal ordination of Bishop Michael G. Duca in the Cathedral of St. John Berchmans in the Louisiana city. In an ornate ceremony complete with a full orchestra, the former rector of Holy Trinity Seminary in Irving, Texas, was officially elevated from monsignor to bishop and becomes the second bishop of Shreveport. Video coverage of his ordination Mass was made available on the diocese's Web site. Then-Msgr. Duca's appointment to Shreveport -- made by Pope Benedict XVI some 16 months after he accepted the resignation of Bishop William B. Friend -- was announced in Washington April 1 by Archbishop Pietro Sambi, apostolic nuncio to the United States. Bishop Friend retired Dec. 20, 2006, at age 75, the age at which canon law requires a bishop to turn in his resignation. Bishop Friend, who attended the ordination, was named bishop of Alexandria-Shreveport in 1982 and the first bishop of Shreveport when it was split off from Alexandria to form a separate diocese in 1986.

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