Pope Francis appoints new bishop of Duluth in the US

By Vatican News staff writer

The Holy Father on Wednesday appointed a new Bishop for the Diocese of Duluth, in the US state of Minnesota.

Msgr. Daniel J. Felton hails from the clergy of the Diocese of Green Bay, and has served until now as its Vicar General.

Brief biography

Bishop-elect Daniel J. Felton was born on 5 February 1955 in Portsmouth, Virginia, in the diocese of Richmond.

He attended Saint Norbert College in De Pere, Wisconsin, obtaining a bachelor’s degree in religious studies (1973-1977).

He carried out his ecclesiastical studies at Saint John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota, where he received a master’s degree in theology. He was subsequently awarded a licentiate in theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome, in 1990.

Msgr. Felton was ordained a priest for the diocese of Green Bay on 13 June 1981.

Since priestly ordination he has held the following offices: parish vicar of the Holy Innocents parish in Manitowoc (1981-1985), director for relations with affiliates of the Catholic Telecommunications Network of America/CTNA in New York (1985-1987); CTNA correspondent in Rome (1987-1990); parish priest of the Saint Raphael the Archangel parish in Oshkosh (1990-2004), the Saint Francis of Assisi parish in Manitowoc (2004-2011), the Saint Edward parish in Mackville, the Saint Mary parish in Greenville and the Saint Nicholas parish in Freedom (2011-2014).

From 2014 to the present, Bishop-elect Felton has served as vicar general and moderator of the Curia in Green Bay. He is a member of the college of consultors, the presbyteral council, the Diocesan Finance Committee and the Personnel Board.