Score one for Washington!

One more assistant bishop:

Pope Benedict XVI today named Monsignor Barry C. Knestout, 46, a native of Bowie, Maryland, to be an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Washington. As bishop, he will assist Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl in the pastoral leadership of the 580,000-member archdiocese. His ordination will be held on Monday, December 29 at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle, Washington, DC.

Bishop-elect (should that really be Bishop-designate?) Knestout is the son of a (now deceased) permanent deacon and the brother of a priest; not many households have managed that hattrick.

In introducing the new bishop, Archbishop Wuerl said, "We rejoice that our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, has blessed the Archdiocese of Washington with a new auxiliary bishop. Bishop-elect Barry Knestout is a native son of this archdiocese. It has been my pleasure to work closely with him over these past few years and I appreciate his breadth of knowledge of the archdiocese, his deep concern for the pastoral ministry and his patient and kind manner. We all recognize his pastoral ability, his priestly spirit and his love for the Church."

He's also quite young, if not quite young enough to make me feel old.

"This announcement brings me a mix of emotions: gratitude, joy, fear, confidence and hope," Bishop-elect Knestout said. "I am grateful to our Holy Father for this appointment and to Archbishop Wuerl. In this year when the Holy Father blessed this local Church with his visit to Washington, I pray that my service as a bishop will be an occasion when all will be filled with a greater sense of joy and hope, knowing of the faith that we all share in Christ, our hope."

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