Words from Bishop Baker

Bishop Baker issued a statement which you can read here. Here is a selection:

Our friendship in Christ will never cease, but my days of shepherding the Diocese of Charleston now come to an end as I officially receive the appointment from our Holy Father on August 14 as the new bishop of Birmingham in Alabama. I am truly honored and humbled by this new trust placed in me by Pope Benedict XVI; but it is not easy for me to say good-bye, especially to people who have helped me learn to be a bishop, first-hand. (Of course, I’d like to compliment you by saying how much I appreciated your words of encouragement, sometimes couched with a reminder that I needed to do a little better job here and there! But that’s okay. How else was I to learn? May the people of the Birmingham diocese benefit from all your good coaching and coaxing! But it is still with difficulty that I say to you good-bye!)

A humble shepard of the Church!