WASHINGTON—Pope
Francis has named Monsignor Alfred A. Schlert as Bishop of Allentown,
Pennsylvania. Monsignor Schlert is currently the diocesan administrator of the
diocese of Allentown, Pennsylvania.

The
appointment was publicized in Washington, June 27, by Archbishop Christophe
Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

Bishop-elect
Schlert was born in Easton, Pennsylvania July 24, 1961. He prepared for the priesthood at St. Charles
Borromeo Seminary near Philadelphia and the Pontifical Roman Seminary and St.
John Lateran University in Rome. He received a Licentiate in Canon Law from the
Pontifical Lateran University in 1992.
He was ordained a priest on September 19, 1987.

Assignments
after ordination included: assistant pastor of St. Francis of Assisi Church in
Allentown; professor at his alma mater Notre Dame High School; and Catholic
chaplain at Lehigh University. He was
named Vice Chancellor and Secretary to the bishop in 1997; and was named vicar
general of the diocese of Allentown in 1998.

Pope
St. John Paul II named him Chaplain to His Holiness with the title of Monsignor
in 1999. Pope Benedict named him a
Prelate of Honor, the second highest rank of Monsignor, in 2005.

While
still serving as Vicar General, he was still pastor of St. Theresa of the Child
Jesus Church in Hellertown, 2008-2010, when he resumed full time service as
vicar general.

In
addition, Bishop-elect Schlert is Vice President of the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference
and a member of its Administrative Board.
He also served on the diocesan Council of Priests, the diocesan
Financial Council, and the diocesan College of Consultors. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees
for DeSales University.

The
Diocese of Allentown has been a vacant see since December, 2016 when it was
announced Pope Francis had transferred Allentown Bishop John O. Barres to serve
as Bishop of the Diocese of Rockville Center in Long Island, New York.

The
Diocese comprises 2,773 square miles and it has total population of approximately
1,161,932 people of which 272,300, or 23 percent, are Catholic.

—

Keywords:
bishop appointment, Pope Francis, Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio,
Monsignor Alfred A. Schlert , Diocese of Allentown, Bishop John O. Barres, vacant
see.

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MEDIA CONTACT:
Judy Keane
202-541-3200

Source:: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops