Mich. priest appointed bishop in Ohio

STEUBENVILLE, Ohio (AP) — A priest in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit has been appointed bishop of a diocese in eastern Ohio.

Monsignor Jeffrey Monforton will succeed the Rev. R. Daniel Conlon as bishop of the Diocese of Steubenville. Bishop Conlon was installed as bishop of the Diocese of Joliet, Ill., last year.

The Steubenville diocese, established in 1944, has 39,000 Catholics and includes 58 parishes.

The Detroit archdiocese said today the 49-year-old Monsignor Monforton was appointed the new bishop by Pope Benedict XVI.

Monsignor Monforton was rector-president of Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit for six years and has been pastor of St. Andrew Parish in Rochester, Mich., since early May. He was ordained a priest in 1994.

No date has been set for his installation.