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Taylor installed as new bishop of Little Rock diocese Friday, Jun 6, 2008 By Rob Moritz Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - The Rev. Anthony B. Taylor was installed as the seventh bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Little Rock on Thursday and concluded a lengthy ceremony with an address in English and Spanish, signaling solidarity with the state's growing Hispanic population. "Today the main thing I feel is gratitude," Taylor told about 3,500 attending the ceremony at the Statehouse Convention Center. "I feel touched by the confidence in me of all of those who played a secret role in recommending me to the Pope." He said he was humbled by the thousands of letters, e-mails and phone calls of support and pledged to be "a good bishop, faithful to the Lord, whatever the cost." The Diocese of Little Rock covers the entire state and serves nearly 117,000 Catholics. Pope Benedict XVI appointed Taylor to replace Bishop J. Peter Sartain, who left last year to become bishop of Joliet, Il. The 54-year-old Texas native, who most recently was a priest in the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, has reached out to Hispanics and has criticized legislation aimed at punishing illegal immigrants. In Oklahoma, he signed "a statement of resistance" to that state's strict illegal immigration laws. Thursday's three-hour ceremony was attended by Taylor's family and friends, as well as fellow bishops in their miters and robes. A Hispanic choir, as well as a diocesan choir, and an orchestra, performed. Archbishop Pietro Sambi, apostolic nuncio to the United States, read the letter Pope Benedict XVI wrote naming Taylor bishop, and Archbishop Eusebius J. Beltran of Oklahoma City presented Taylor with his miter, a ring and a shepherd's staff. Taylor praised Sartain for his work and also thanked Monsignor J. Gaston Hebert, who served as diocesan administrator after Sartain left. "It's nice to come to a diocese that is one of the plumb diocese of the United States," Taylor said. Taylor studied at St. Meinard Seminary College in Indiana and at the North American College in Rome, where he took classes at the Gregorian University. In 1989, he earned a doctorate in Biblical Theology from Fordham University in New York City. He was ordained in 1980. |
