Diocese of Alexandria receives new bishop

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Even if Lord only knows how Louisiana's 43,000-member diocese of Alexandria nabbed the top pick in the Episcopal Draft, the surprise result's nonetheless come to pass: at Roman Noon this Wednesday, the Pope named Bishop David Talley – the 66 year-old Atlanta auxiliary desired for no shortage of open sees – to the southern Louisiana church as coadjutor to Bishop Ronald Herzog, who reaches the retirement age of 75 next April.

Archbishop Wilton Gregory's junior deputy in overseeing the million-member North Georgia fold for all of three years, keeping with Talley's reputation as the "Tasmanian Devil" – a moniker coined by the staff of his last pastorate, "because he's always running full speed ahead, in a good way" – the quietly kind, hyper-relational Southern Baptist social worker-turned-Rome-trained canonist has come into a staggeringly high level of regard on the national scene, with a cult following that runs deep even among the oft-skeptical USCCB staff

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Along those lines, it's been no secret that today's nominee was headed somewhere, but figuring out the "where" has produced an unusually concerted tug-of-war over the last year: some sought him for Memphis, others St Petersburg, others still for Arlington – the latter two roughly 20 times the size of the Louisiana slot where he's ended up. Yet given reports of concern over the state of morale in Alexandria, he's ostensibly been sent where his skill-set could accomplish the most good.

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