Pope Benedict appoints new Charleston bishop

Pope Benedict XVI has appointed Monsignor Robert E. Guglielmone as the 13th Bishop of the Diocese of Charleston.

Bishop-elect Guglielmone succeeds Bishop Robert J. Baker who was Bishop of Charleston from July 13, 1999, until August 14, 2007, when he was appointed to the Diocese of Birmingham, AL.  The Diocese of Charleston has been under the care of Diocesan Administrator Reverend Monsignor Martin T. Laughlin since October 3, 2007.

Bishop-elect Guglielmone said, “I am both humbled and grateful that His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI would entrust this awesome ministry to me.  I must admit that I am a bit anxious about leaving Long Island where I have spent almost my whole life.  However, I do trust in the Lord and am very encouraged by the wonderful sense of Southern Hospitality I have already experienced.”

Bishop-elect Guglielmone, a native of New York, obtained his degree in education and began work as a high school business teacher.  After teaching for five years, he attended Immaculate Conception Seminary in Huntington, NY and was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Rockville Center on April 8, 1978.

Guglielmone has served in a pastoral capacity at St. Martin of Tours, Amityville, N.Y., and at St. Frances de Chantal, Wantagh, N.Y.  He also served on the faculty of Immaculate Conception Seminary as the Director of Pastoral Formation and Dean of Seminarians from 1986 to 1993.  From 2004 to 2007 he served as the Diocesan Director of Clergy Personnel and most recently served as Rector of St. Agnes Cathedral in Rockville Center.

Bishop-elect Guglielmone will be ordained and installed as Bishop of Charleston on March 25, 2009.