SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — Bishop Mitchell T. Rozanski has been named as the archbishop of St. Louis. 

 

Pope Francis made the announcement on Wednesday morning that Rozanski, bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield, will replace the retiring Robert J. Carlson in St. Louis.

 

A press conference is being held Wednesday in the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis to introduce the archbishop-to-be.

 

Rozanski was an auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of Baltimore when he was named the 9th bishop of the Diocese of Springfield in 2014. The diocese encompasses the Roman Catholic parishes of Berkshire County, of which St. Joseph's in Pittsfield is the "Mother Parish."

 

At the time, he had replaced Bishop Timothy A. McDonnell who had submitted his retirement letter two years earlier after a decade as leader of Western Massachusetts' more than 175,000 Catholics.

 

The diocese of St. Louis became an archdiocese in 1847 and serves more than 500,000 faithful. It encompasses 179 parishes and 125 elementary and high schools with an enrollment of more than 30,000.

 

A Mass to install Rozanski as the 11th bishop and 10th archbishop of St. Louis is tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 25, on the Feast Day of Saint Louis, King of France.