Cardinal Justin Rigali, Archbishop of Philadelphia will lead Evening Prayer in honor of Bishop Michael F. Burbidge. Bishop F. Joseph Gossman, whom Bishop Burbidge will succeed as Bishop of Raleigh, and 3 priests from that Diocese will be in attendance. All the faithful of the Archdiocese are welcome. A reception will follow.

Friday, July 28, 2006
5:00 p.m.
Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul
18th Street and Benjamin Franklin Parkway
Philadelphia

Cardinal Rigali announced at a news conference on June 8, 2006 that Pope Benedict XVI appointed Bishop Michael F. Burbidge, currently Auxiliary Bishop of Philadelphia, as the fifth Bishop of Raleigh in North Carolina. Bishop Burbidge will be installed on August 4, 2006 at 2:30 p.m. at Meymandi Concert Hall in the Center for the Performing Arts in Raleigh.

Michael F. Burbidge was born in Philadelphia on June 16, 1957 to Mr. and Mrs. Francis and Shirley (Lilley) Burbidge, who currently reside in Broomall, Pennsylvania. Father Burbidge graduated from Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary and was ordained in 1984. He served as Parochial Vicar at Saint Bernard Parish in Philadelphia from 1984 to 1986 and taught at Cardinal O'Hara High School in Springfield, Delaware County, from 1986 to 1990. During 1990-91, Father Burbidge served on the faculty of Archbishop Wood High School and became Dean of Students at Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary in 1991. Father Burbidge served as Administrative Secretary to Cardinal Bevilacqua from 1992 to 1999. In 1998, he was named Honorary Prelate (Monsignor). Monsignor Burbidge was named Rector of Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, in 1999. He was ordained a bishop in 2002. He was assigned to the Archdiocesan Office Center to assist the Archbishop with administrative duties and as Regional Bishop to assist the Archbishop with pastoral responsibilities.

Bishop Burbidge also serves as the Chair of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishop's Sapientia Christiana Committee. He was a member of the Committee on Priestly Formation from 2002-2005 and is the Episcopal Moderator of the National Association of the Holy Name Society. He has also been the Chair of the USCCB Conformity Review Team for the Catechism of the Catholic Church since 2005 and is a member of the USCCB Committee on Catechesis.

Editor's Note: An audio and video mult-box feed will be provided in the parking lot of the Cathedral. Please enter on 17th Street, between Race and Vine Streets. Crews will need a bnc connector and a recording deck or a live truck. Television cameras will not be permitted in the Cathedral. Reporters and still photographers will be permitted in the Cathedral.
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Meredith V. Wilson
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215-587-3747