New Catholic bishop named for area
Posted: January 24, 2014 - 12:10pm

Most Reverend Ronald W. Gainer
HARRISBURG (AP) -- Pope Francis has named a Pennsylvania native as the new bishop for the Catholic church's Harrisburg diocese. An announcement from the Vatican on Friday says current Lexington, Ky. bishop Ronald Gainer will succeed the late Joseph McFadden, who died in May. The Harrisburg Diocese includes Columbia, Montour and Northumberland counties, along with 12 other counties. Sixty-six-year-old Gainer was born in Pottsville and ordained a priest for the Allentown diocese in 1973. He became bishop of Lexington in 2003. The diocese says Gainer has served in parish, campus ministry, marriages and family, and tribunal positions during his priesthood. He will be installed March 19 as bishop of the diocese, which according to officials has almost 250,000 registered Catholics.