January 14, 2011

Holy Father accepts resignation of Bishop Adamec

It was announced today in Rome that Pope Benedict XVI accepted the resignation of the Most Rev. Joseph V. Adamec, Bishop of Altoona-Johnstown, Penn., who reached the retirement age of 75 last August, and named his successor.

Bishop Adamec is a native of the Diocese of Saginaw and served as a priest in this local church more than 25 years before his appointment as Bishop of Altoona-Johnstown in 1987.

He was born on Aug. 13, 1935 in Bannister and baptized there at St. Cyril Parish. Although he was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Nitra, Slovakia, in 1946, he returned to his home diocese to minister in 1961.

Between 1961 to 1987, Bishop Adamec served as a parish priest at Blessed Sacrament in Midland, St. Casimir and Queen of the Holy Rosary, both in Saginaw, Sacred Heart in Birch Run, St. John the Evangelist in Ubly, St. Hyacinth in Bay City and Ss. Peter & Paul in Saginaw. He also served tenures as Assistant Chancellor, Mastor of Ceremonies, Secretary to the Bishop, and Chancellor of the Diocese of Saginaw. In 1980, Pope John Paul II recognized him as a recipeient of the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice medel for "Service to the Church and Pope" and in 1985 the late pontiff named then Father Adamec as a "Prelate of Honor," granting him the title of Monsingor.

Learn more about Bishop Adamec through the Diocese of Altoon-Johnstown website, http://www.ajdiocese.org/.

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