SPRINGFIELD — The Vatican announced today that Rev. William D. Byrne, a priest with the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., has been named as the next bishop of the Roman Diocese of Springfield, succeeding the Most Rev. Mitchell T. Rozanski, who departed in June to lead the Archdiocese of St. Louis.
The announcement was made by Archbishop Christophe Pierre, U.S. papal nuncio, in Washington.
Byrne, 55, is the the 10th bishop in the history of the Springfield diocese.
He is scheduled to be introduced in Springfield with a press conference at 10 a.m. Wednesday in the Bishop John Marshall Center. After that, he will preach at the 12:10 Mass at St. Michael’s Cathedral. Both events will be carried live over the diocese’s website, www.diospringfield.org.
He will be installed as bishop on Dec. 14.
According to the announcement, Byrne, as a newly ordained priest, was first assigned to the Church of the Little Flower and the Shrine of St. Jude in Bethesda, Maryland.
For eight years he served as the chaplain to the University of Maryland.
He was named pastor of St. Peter’s on Capitol Hill, where he created a special ministry to Catholic members of Congress.
During that same time, Byrne also served as the secretary for pastoral ministry and social concerns for the Archdiocese of Washington for 6½ years.
More recently he was pastor of Our Lady of Mercy Parish in Potomac, Maryland.
Byrne is also columnist and YouTube personality, with his series “Five Things” that highlights “life hacks, prayer starters, or spiritual meditations to help people to grow closer to God and appreciate the small — but vital — things in life,” the diocese said in a news release. A book based on the series, “Five Things with Fr. Bill” will be released Thursday by Loyola Press.