Bishop Mark S. Rivituso, 63, a current auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of St. Louis, will be the next Archbishop of Mobile, Alabama, the Vatican announced on Tuesday, July 1. This marks Pope Leo XIV's first archbishop appointment in the United States since the start of his papacy.
Archbishop-Designate Rivituso replaces Archbishop Thomas J. Rodi of Mobile, whose resignation was accepted on July 1.
Archbishop Rodi, 76, was required by canon law to submit his resignation on his 75th birthday.
The outgoing archbishop will, however, serve as the apostolic administrator of the archdiocese until Rivituso can be installed, said a press release from the Archdiocese of Mobile. His installation date has not yet been determined.
“I am most grateful to the Holy Father for sending us this outstanding bishop. I give thanks to God that the Spirit has guided this selection of our new archbishop,” Archbishop Rodi said in Tuesday's press release from the Archdiocese of Mobile.
Rodi continued, saying, “I ask that we all keep Archbishop-Designate Rivituso in our prayers as he prepares to serve as our next archbishop.”
Rivituso was born on September 20, 1961, in St. Louis, the sixth of eight children, said the Archdiocese of Mobile.
He was ordained a priest on January 16, 1988, by Archbishop John L. May of St. Louis. May, noted the Archdiocese of Mobile, previously led the Diocese of Mobile from 1969 to 1980. The Archdiocese of Mobile was created on November 16, 1980. Biloxi, Birmingham, and Jackson are the suffragan dioceses.
Mobile has about 100 priests serving some 107,000 Catholics (under 6% of the total population.) It also has over 70 permanent deacons.
Rivituso was appointed vicar general of the Archdiocese of St. Louis in 2011. He was consecrated as a bishop on May 2, 2017.
What's an archbishop?
The Catholic Church eventually organized its parishes into what are called dioceses. Simply put, a diocese is a geographical region, and all the parishes in that area, that a particular bishop oversees and shepherds. All the Catholics in a diocese are under the spiritual care of that bishop.
An archdiocese, from the Greek suffix indicating “head” or “ruler,” is a diocese that includes a larger city or an area with a large Catholic population. An archdiocese is headed by an archbishop, and the archbishop of the largest diocese in a region is known as a metropolitan archbishop. See more here.
