Pope names priest as new bishop of Pensacola-Tallahassee

Pope names priest as new bishop of Pensacola-Tallahassee

Pope Francis has named Father William A. Wack, 49, as bishop of Pensacola-Tallahassee, Florida. Father Wack is a member of the Congregation of the Holy Cross and pastor at St. Ignatius Martyr Parish in Austin.

The appointment was publicized in Washington, May 29, by Archbishop Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

William A. Wack was born June 28, 1967, in South Bend, Indiana. He entered the Novitiate for the Congregation of the Holy Cross in 1989. He holds a bachelor of arts degree in government and international relations (1989), and a master of divinity (1993), from the University of Notre Dame, Indiana. He professed final vows in 1993 and was ordained a priest on April 9, 1994.

Assignments after ordination included: associate pastor at Sacred Heart Parish, Colorado Springs, Colorado, 1994-1997; associate director of vocations, 1997-2002; director of Andre House, Phoenix, Arizona, 2002-2008; pastor of St. Ignatius Martyr Parish, 2009-present.

Other assignments include: board member of: Pikes Peak Justice and Peace Commission, Colorado Springs, 1996-1998; Holy Cross Associates, Notre Dame, Indiana, 1998-2002; Holy Cross College, 2002-2003; Catholic Charities, Phoenix, Arizona, 2003-2008. And a member of the Presbyteral Council, Diocese of Austin.

The Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee has been a vacant see since November 2016. The Diocese comprises 14,044 square miles and it has total population of 1,463,116 people of which 67,316 or five percent, are Catholic.