The leader of Juneau’s Roman Catholics is being transferred to Dallas.
On Tuesday, Bishop Edward Burns held a press conference at his new Texas offices after his appointment was formally announced by Archbishop Christophe Pierre, the Vatican’s ambassador to the United States.
In a statement published by the Southeast Alaska Catholic, the online newspaper of the Diocese of Juneau, Burns said he was “humbled and grateful” by his appointment.
“I am profoundly grateful for my experience in Southeast Alaska and I pray for God’s grace as I take on my new duties as chief shepherd of the Diocese of Dallas,” he said.
The Diocese of Juneau, which covers all of Southeast, includes an estimated 10,000 Catholics. The Diocese of Dallas, which has an overall population of about 4 million, has an estimated 1.3 million Catholics.
Burns was born in Pittsburgh and remains a passionate Pittsburgh Steelers fan. He was ordained a priest in Pittsburgh in 1983 and ordained as a bishop in 2009, becoming the fifth person named Bishop of Juneau.
At that time, he joked that he was a “rookie bishop.” He replaced Michael Warfel as the top Catholic in Juneau. Warfel was appointed after the sudden death of Michael Kenny, who died in 1995 after a sudden brain aneurysm.
The Most Rev. Burns will be installed as the eighth Bishop of the Diocese of Dallas on Feb. 9.
