June 12, 2007

Pope Benedict XVI has appointed a former priest of the Diocese of Allentown as the next Archbishop of Louisville, Kentucky. He is the Most Reverend Joseph E. Kurtz, D.D., for the last seven-and-a-half years the Bishop of Knoxville, Tennessee.

Archbishop-elect Kurtz, 60, was born and raised in Mahanoy City. He was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Allentown in 1972. During his 27 years as a priest of this Diocese the archbishop-elect served as an assistant pastor at St. Joseph Church in Limeport and SS. Simon and Jude Church in Bethlehem; executive director of the Social Action Bureau; assistant director and later director of the Catholic Social Agency and president of the Board of Directors of Catholic Charities. He was also pastor of Annunciation B.V.M Church in Catasauqua and later at Notre Dame of Bethlehem.

The Most Reverend Edward P. Cullen, Bishop of Allentown issued the following statement: "Together with the people of the Diocese of Allentown, I rejoice that a native son of our diocese has been selected by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, to serve the Church as the Archbishop of Louisville. As he has throughout his priesthood, Archbishop Kurtz takes with him the esteem, best wishes and prayerful support of the faithful of the Diocese of Allentown where his vocation was nurtured and first bore fruit."

There are only 32 active archbishops serving the Catholic Church in the United States. Archbishop-elect Kurtz is the first priest ordained for the Diocese of Allentown to achieve this rank.

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