STATEMENT

DATE:   September 19, 2011

RE:  Statement on Appointment of Bishop Libasci 
FROM: Bishop William Murphy, Bishop, Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre

Today the Holy See announced that our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, has appointed the auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Rockville Centre, Bishop Peter Libasci, to be the new Bishop of Manchester New Hampshire.  While I will greatly miss his wise counsel and tireless apostolic spirit as Vicar of the Eastern Region of our Diocese, I rejoice that the Holy Father has chosen one of the priests of this Diocese to lead the Diocese of Manchester which I know well and whose current bishop is a long time friend with whom I shared Episcopal ordination on December 27, 1995.

As priest, as pastor and as bishop, Bishop Libasci brought a deep sense of the holy to all the many pastoral efforts that have marked his tenure in this Diocese which will always be his home.  I recall the day of the consecration of the new Church of St. Therese at Montauk only a short time before the Holy Father called Fr. Libasci to the episcopate.  His parishioners there, as those he served at Our Lady of Good Counsel in Inwood and in all the other places he offered his priestly service, I know, join me in thanksgiving for all he has given this Diocese and pray for him as he goes to shepherd the Church of Manchester with the same love and sense of priestly dedication that are the hallmarks of his life.

His brother bishops here as well as his brother priests of this Diocese are one in sending him our prayers and our congratulations, asking God, through the intercession of our Lady, to watch over him, bless and guide him in his new pastoral role as Bishop of Manchester and assuring him of our fraternal support in the years to come.

+William Murphy
Bishop of Rockville Centre
September 19, 2011
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