Several challenges await new bishop

YOUNGSTOWN — The shortage of clergy, decline in Catholic school enrollment and the need for outreach to the poor will be among the challenges facing Bishop George V. Murry when he becomes the fifth bishop of the Youngstown Catholic Diocese.

Bishop Murry will be installed as bishop of Youngstown during a ceremony at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday at St. Columba Cathedral.

The expanse of his new diocese — six counties and 115 parishes — will be in stark contrast to the small diocese that he comes from — St. Thomas, Virgin Islands — which has only eight parishes. But Monsignor Michael Kosak, vicar general of the St. Thomas diocese, said of his former boss, “He’s up to the task.”

Just what will he face as the leader of the Catholic flock in Northeast Ohio?