Jackson’s Catholic Bishop Reaching Retirement Age
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Catholics in Mississippi’s 65 northernmost counties will begin waiting Sunday for the Vatican to name a new bishop for the Diocese of Jackson.
Bishop Joseph Latino turns 75 that day. That’s the mandatory retirement age for Catholic bishops, and Latino is submitting a resignation letter to Pope Benedict XVI.
Latino will continue to lead the diocese until the pope accepts his resignation. He’s likely to remain bishop until a successor is named, a process than can take months, or even as long as a year.
Latino was named the 10th bishop of Jackson in 2003, while serving as a priest in the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux, La. He was born in New Orleans and ordained there in 1963.
Catholics in the other 17 Mississippi counties are in the Diocese of Biloxi.
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