There is a new spiritual leader for the 220,000 Roman Catholics in western Massachusetts.
56 year old Mitchell Thomas Rozanski was installed as the 9th bishop of the Springfield diocese during a nearly 2-and-a-half hour service Tuesday. The 900 seat St. Michael’s Cathedral, the mother church of the diocese in downtown Springfield was nearly filled to capacity.
" As your bishop, I am keenly aware of the need to reach out to those who have stopped practicing the faith for any reason, those who may have been hurt in any way, and to bring them back to the rich pastures that is our church," Rozanski said in his first homily as bishop.
Rozanski, a native of Baltimore, said later he did not intend to spend a lot of time behind a desk, but intends to get out and visit the 82 parishes of the diocese. Rozanski said it meant a lot that his parents, his two brothers and their families, and several priests from his native Baltimore were at the service.
