Bp-elect CoffeyWASHINGTON — Pope Francis has named Father Joseph L. Coffey and Father William J. Muhm as auxiliary bishops of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services.
Bp.-elect Muhm
Bishop-elect Coffey, 58 is a priest of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia who has served since 2001 as a U.S. Navy chaplain, holding the rank of captain. He was assigned to the U.S. Navy recruiting command in St. Louis and served in-residence at Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis from May 2011 to June 2014.
Bishop-elect Muhm, 61, is a priest of the Archdiocese of New York and since November has served as administrator of Most Precious Blood Parish in Walden, New York. He served as a Navy chaplain from 2008 until last November.
The appointments were announced Jan. 22 in Washington by Archbishop Christophe Pierre, the Vatican nuncio to the United States.
Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, who heads the military archdiocese, will ordain the new bishops March 25 in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington.
Bishop-elect Coffey in a statement credited those who have led the Philadelphia Archdiocese over the years — Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua, Cardinal Justin Rigali and Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, Philadelphia’s current archbishop — for allowing him to serve in the military as a chaplain.
Meanwhile, Bishop-elect Muhm in a statement said he was “humbled and honored” by his appointment.