BUFFALO – A new Bishop has been named to head the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo.
The Diocese announced Tuesday morning that Michael William Fisher has been appointed by Pope Francis.
Fisher, who will become the 15th Bishop of the Diocese of Buffalo, says he is “deeply humbled and grateful to the Holy Father for this gift to serve the people of Buffalo as their Bishop.”
“Though the challenges that currently confront the Diocese of Buffalo are many and significant, they are not equal to the resolve of so many committed lay women and men, devoted priests, deacons and religious across Western New York, who are no less determined to reveal God’s transformative love that has the power to bind every wound, renew and make us whole,” Fisher says. “We would do well to recall the promise in Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians: ‘No eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the human heart conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him.’”
Following the controversial exit of former bishop Richard Malone, Albany Bishop Edward Scharfenberger was serving as Apostolic Administrator for the Buffalo Diocese.
Scharfenberger calls this “a blessed and wonderful day for the good people across western New York.”
“In Bishop Michael Fisher, they have been given a priest, pastor and bishop whose passion to serve, to listen, to heal and comfort have distinguished his 30-year ministry. It has been among my life’s great joys to get to know and assist this faith-filled community, to accompany them in their initial steps on the path toward renewal and redefine the enormous potential of the Church to accomplish so much good across this region,” Scharfenberger says.
Fisher is 62-years-old and a native of Baltimore. He previously served as an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Washington and a chaplain to Pope John Paul II.
His’s installation will take place on January 15 in the Cathedral of Saint Joseph in Buffalo.
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