WASHINGTON (CNS) — Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Philadelphia and has appointed Bishop Nelson J. Perez of Cleveland as his successor.
Archbishop Chaput, who has headed the Philadelphia Archdiocese since 2011, turned 75 last September, the age at which canon law requires bishops to turn in their resignation to the pope.
The resignation and appointment were announced in Washington Jan. 23 by Archbishop Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States.
Archbishop-designate Perez will be installed as Archbishop of Philadelphia Tuesday, Feb. 18 at 2 p.m. at the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul.
He was born in Miami, Florida, on June 16, 1961 to David and Emma Perez and is the brother of the late Dr. David Perez and Louis Martin Perez. He was raised in West New York, N.J. and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from Montclair State University in 1983.
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After entering St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Wynnewood, he earned Master of Divinity and Master of Arts in theology degrees in 1988 and 1989, respectively. He was ordained a priest for Philadelphia on May 20, 1989.
He ministered as a parochial vicar at St. Ambrose Parish in Philadelphia (1989-1993), was assistant director of the archdiocesan Office for Hispanic Catholics (1990-1993), founding director of the Catholic Institute for Evangelization (1993-2002), pastor of St. William Parish, Philadelphia (2002-2009) and pastor of St. Agnes Parish, West Chester (2009-2012).
His work in education included teaching psychology and religious studies at La Salle University (1994-2008) and developmental psychology at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary (2011).
Named a monsignor by Pope John Paul II in 1998 and a prelate of honor by Pope Benedict XVI in 2009, he was ordained an auxiliary bishop for the Diocese of Rockville Centre, N.Y., in 2012.
Archbishop-designate Perez was installed as the 11th bishop of the Diocese of Cleveland on Sept. 5, 2017.
As a member of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Archbishop-designate Perez serves as chair of the Bishops’ Standing Committee on Cultural Diversity, former chair of the Bishops’ Sub-Committee for Hispanic Affairs, served as the lead bishop for the V Encuentro process for the USCCB and is a former member of the Bishops’ Sub-Committee for the Catholic Campaign for Human Development.
He currently serves as a member of the Administrative and the Religious Liberty Committees for the USCCB. In November 2018, he began a three-year term as the bishop liaison for the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry (NFCYM).
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Catholic News Service contributed to this story.
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