St. Cloud Bishop Reaches Mandatory Retirement Age

ST. CLOUD  (AP) - The bishop of the Diocese of St. Cloud is submitting his resignation to Pope Benedict XVI because he's reached the mandatory retirement age of 75.

Bishop John Kinney probably won't be going anywhere very soon. Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis spokesman Jim Accurso says the replacement process often takes eight months or more to complete. St. Cloud diocese spokeswoman Rebecca Kurowski says Kinney's resignation will not be accepted in Rome until someone is lined up to take his spot.

Kinney was first ordained an auxiliary bishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis in 1977. He served as bishop of Bismarck, N.D., from 1982 to 1995 before his appointment to St. Cloud. The diocese includes more than a dozen central Minnesota counties.

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