Last Saturday’s announcement that Pope Leo XIV had promoted Diocese of Colorado Springs Bishop James Golka to fill the seat of archbishop of Denver was unexpected news for many Catholics.
“His appointment came as a surprise to me and carried with it feelings of sadness and loss,” said Bishop Emeritus Richard Hanifen, who was the first leader of the local diocese from its founding in 1984 to his retirement in 2003.
The Vatican named Golka, who has presided over the Colorado Springs diocese’s 190,000 Catholics for the past five years, to oversee the larger Archdiocese of Denver, which encompasses more than 600,000 Catholics in 148 parishes and 31 Catholic schools…