Pope Francis appoints Shawn McKnight as Archbishop of Kansas City, Kansas
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Jefferson City Diocese's current bishop has been chosen as the next archbishop of Kansas City, Kansas.
On Tuesday, Pope Francis announced Shawn McKnight of the Jefferson City Diocese has been appointed as the fifth Archbishop of Kansas City, Kansas.
McKnight will be introduced during a press conference in Kansas City, Kansas, starting at 1 p.m. on Tuesday.
McKnight will remain as head of the Diocese of Jefferson City for seven more weeks until he is installed as archbishop on May 27, according to a news release.
After installation in Kansas, the Diocese of Jefferson City's College of Consultors will elect an administrator to lead the diocese until a new bishop is installed after being chosen by the Pope.
"My heart is filled with gratitude for the faithful of the Diocese of Jefferson City," McKnight said in a statement. "You have been my first flock as a bishop, and that bond will always hold a special place in my heart."
An online biography states he was ordained as a priest for the Wichita Diocese in 1994. He also served as the chaplain of Newman University in Wichita before teaching at the Pontifical College Josephinum seminary.
He later served as the executive director of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Secretariat for Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations from 2010-2016. He then returned to Kansas for two years before being ordained as the fourth bishop for Jefferson City on Feb. 6, 2018.
