Shreve Tuesday

This week's first US vacancy to fall comes tomorrow with the appointment of a new bishop for Louisana's diocese of Shreveport. The traditional warning shots have been firing off for some days now, with the latest sending word of the standard 10am press conference in the border diocese.

One of the nation's ten smallest local churches, the 40,000-member Shreveport see has awaited a new head since the December 2006 retirement of Bishop William Friend, who led it since 1986. Asked last week how to describe the Evangelical-dominated terrain there, one op tellingly replied that "Well, it's a lot like... Dallas."

As for the rest, see you at sunrise.

At present, nine US dioceses stand vacant, with another 12 headed by an ordinary serving past the age of 75 -- a combined figure slated to be lessened significantly in the fortnight leading up to B16's mid-month arrival.

For further reference, keep in mind that the timing of announcements these days is much more, er, mobile than it's been in the past... not wedded to the once-traditional Tuesday... with appointments well-able to drop on concurrent days of the same week.

As always, stay tuned... and be patient.

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