By BRUCE SHIPKOWSKI
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Vatican announced Thursday that the bishop of Cleveland will become the new leader of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, making him the first Hispanic archbishop to lead the region’s 1.3 million-member flock.
A news conference was scheduled Thursday morning to introduce Nelson Perez. He will succeed Archbishop Charles Chaput, who will step down after turning 75 last year, the traditional retirement age for Catholic bishops.
Born in Miami and raised in New Jersey, Perez was ordained at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania. Perez, 58, served as a parish priest for more than 20 years in Philadelphia before being named an auxiliary bishop in Long Island, New York state, in 2012.
Perez’s installation Mass will be held Feb. 18.