Pope accepts resignation of Archbishop Aymond, 76, and confirms coadjutor as successor

ROME (OSV News) — Pope Leo XIV has confirmed Archbishop James F. Checchio as the new leader of the Archdiocese of New Orleans, effective immediately, following the retirement of Archbishop Gregory M. Aymond on Feb. 11.

Archbishop Checchio, 59, was appointed coadjutor archbishop of New Orleans by the pope in September. According to the Church’s canon law, a coadjutor bishop is appointed to assist the diocesan bishop until his retirement, when the coadjutor automatically becomes head of the diocese.

The Vatican announced on Feb. 11 that Pope Leo had accepted Archbishop Aymond’s resignation. He is 76, one year past the age canon law requires bishops to submit their resignation to the pope.

Archbishop Checchio, a native of New Jersey, was formally welcomed to the archdiocese of New Orleans with a Mass on Nov. 18. As coadjutor, he came into an on archdiocese faced with having to resolve hundreds of sexual abuse claims. A long-running Chapter 11 filing, which dates to 2020, has racked up more than $41 million in legal fees, with a tentative multimillion-dollar settlement proposed by the archdiocese in September.

Prior to his appointment, he served nine years as the bishop of Metuchen, New Jersey, where he made visiting the parishes of the diocese “a top priority” and had to deal with the fallout from the reports of child sexual abuse by the late Theodore McCarrick, a former bishop of Metuchen.

Archbishop Checchio, who served as rector of the Pontifical North American College in Rome from 2006 to 2016, brings extensive administrative experience to New Orleans.

Born in Camden, New Jersey, in 1966, he was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Camden in 1992 and holds a doctorate in canon law from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome and a master’s degree in business economics from LaSalle University in Philadelphia. His career has included parish ministry, diocesan communications and leadership roles such as moderator of the curia and episcopal vicar in Camden before he was appointed bishop of Metuchen in 2016.

The Archdiocese of New Orleans holds a distinctive place in American Catholic history as one of the oldest and most culturally significant dioceses in the United States. Established in 1793 as the Diocese of Louisiana and the Two Floridas, it has deep roots in the region’s French and Spanish colonial heritage, giving it a unique Catholic identity shaped by Creole culture, jazz funerals and vibrant traditions like the blessing of the St. Joseph altars.

The archdiocese has a total population of more than 1.26 million people of whom more than half a million are Catholic and contains 104 parishes, four missions and two campus ministries.

Since his arrival in New Orleans in the fall, Archbishop Checchio has visited local parishes and schools, and even participated in a float for a Super Bowl parade, to get to know the people in the archdiocese.

“These three months since my arrival in New Orleans have gone by very quickly as I learn more about our local Church and seek to understand how God is calling me to best serve this beautiful part of His vineyard,” he said in a statement published after the announcement.

“It is fascinating that the faith has been so active here in Southeastern Louisiana for so long! The contributions of the many priests, religious men and women and the lay faithful over the years are a testament to the interconnectedness of faith in public life in our Archdiocese of New Orleans — something within which we should take great pride.”

Archbishop Checchio will offer his first public Mass as archbishop of New Orleans on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 18, at noon in the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis in Jackson Square, one of the oldest cathedrals in continuous use in the United States.

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