Wall named new Gallup bishop

Copyright © 2009
Gallup Independent
By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
Staff writer

GALLUP — Pope Benedict XVI named a new bishop to the Diocese of Gallup today.

The Rev. James S. Wall, 44, vicar for the clergy in the Diocese of Phoenix was appointed bishop of Gallup, according to the Vatican Information Service. The Most Rev. Thomas J. Olmsted, bishop of Phoenix and Gallup’s current apostolic administrator, is expected to make the formal announcement this morning during a news conference at the Gallup pastoral center.

According to the Vatican’s statement, Wall apparently has ties to the Diocese of Gallup, with his birthplace being listed as “Ganado, U.S.A.” Ganado, Ariz., located on the Navajo Nation, is part of the geographic area of the Diocese of Gallup. A photograph of Wall, surfacing on a number of Internet blog sites, indicates Wall is non-Native.

Wall, a young priest, is now a very young bishop. Born in 1964, Wall was ordained a priest just a decade ago in 1998. He will be heading a diocese of 53 priests, most of whom are older than he.

The Diocese of Phoenix’s Web site lists Wall as most currently being assigned to the diocesan pastoral center in Phoenix. In 2004, Wall was elected to a four-year term as a member of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ National Advisory Council, a 63-member body which meets semi-annually to review documentation and offer recommendations concerning matters before the USCCB.