MICHIGAN
Roman Catholic Diocese of Marquette
After spending the past seven years as bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Marquette, the Most Reverend Alexander K. Sample is heading back west. Today (Jan. 29) the Vatican announced that Pope Benedict XVI has appointed him archbishop of Portland in Oregon.
Archbishop-Designate Sample, who was born Nov. 7, 1960 in Kalispell, Montana and graduated from Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas, Nevada in 1978, will be installed as Archbishop of Portland on April 2, 2013. He will succeed Archbishop John Vlazny, who turned 75 years old, the canonical age of retirement for bishops, on Feb. 2, 2012.
In a prepared statement to the Church in the Diocese of Marquette, Archbishop-Designate Sample stated, “Even as there is excitement and joy at taking up this new challenge that God has placed before me, I would be less than honest if I did not say that I will leave the Church in the U.P. with a certain heaviness of heart. I will profoundly miss the people, the clergy and religious of the diocese. I will miss my brother priests in a special way, since I was chosen from among them to be their bishop.
“I have always tried to be obedient to the will of God and to accept whatever the Church asks of me to be God’s will. It is in this spirit that I have said ‘yes’ to the Holy Father’s request for me to serve the Church in a new place in western Oregon. I ask the prayers of all the clergy, religious and faithful of the Diocese of Marquette. They will always be in my heart and prayers. Venerable Frederic Baraga, pray for us!” he wrote.
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