Pope Francis Merges Archdiocese of Anchorage and Diocese of Juneau and Names Bishop Andrew Bellisari

May 19, 2020

WASHINGTON—Pope Francis has merged the Archdiocese of Anchorage and the Diocese of Juneau and has erected the new ecclesiastical circumscription of the Archdiocese of Anchorage-Juneau. At the same time, he named the current bishop of Juneau and apostolic administrator for Anchorage, Andrew E. Bellisario, CM as the new metropolitan archbishop of Anchorage-Juneau.

The appointment was publicized in Washington, D.C. on May 19, 2020 by Archbishop Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

Archbishop Bellisario was appointed bishop of Juneau in July 2017. He has also been serving as apostolic administrator of Anchorage since June 2019. He is a member of the religious order, the Congregation of the Mission (Vincentian Fathers and Brothers).

The Archdiocese of Anchorage is comprised of 138,985 square miles in the State of Alaska and has a total population of 481,023 of which 24,115 are Catholic. The Diocese of Juneau is comprised of 37,566 square miles in the State of Alaska and has a total population of 75,000 of which 7,249 are Catholic.

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Keywords: U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, USCCB, Pope Francis, Archbishop Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio, Archbishop Andrew E. Bellisario, Archdiocese of Anchorage, Diocese of Juneau.

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