The Associated Press and Staff Reports
Pope Francis has named Monsignor Charles Thompson, 56, as the new archbishop of Indianapolis, the Vatican announced Tuesday.
Thompson, a canon lawyer, replaces Cardinal Joseph Tobin, whom Francis moved to Newark, New Jersey last year.
Thompson, a 56-year old native of Louisville, Kentucky, has been bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Evansville since April 2011. He has been a priest for 30 years, since he was ordained on May 30, 1987.
The Archdiocese of Indianapolis includes parishes in 39 counties, from Marion County (Indianapolis) in the northernmost section and areas to the south with the exception of counties in the Evansville area.
That includes Bartholomew County, where St. Bartholomew Catholic Church with 1,620 members is considered the largest house of worship in the Columbus area. An average of 2,000 people attend one of four services weekly at St. Bartholomew, which last year observed its 175th anniversary.
