Robert Joseph Baker

Infobox bishopbiog


name = Most Rev. Robert Joseph Baker

religion = Catholic Church
See = Birmingham in Alabama
Title = Bishop of Birmingham in Alabama
Period = August 14, 2007 — present
Predecessor = Most Rev. David E. Foley
Successor = incumbent
date of birth = Birth date and age|1944|6|4|mf=y
place of birth = Willard, Ohio|infobox bishopstyles
name=Robert Baker
dipstyle=The Most Reverend
offstyle=Your Excellency
relstyle=Monsignor
deathstyle=not applicable |

Robert J. Baker (b. June 4 1944 Willard, Ohio) is an American Roman Catholic prelate who serves as the Bishop of the Diocese of Birmingham in Alabama. He was appointed to this post by Pope Benedict XVI on August 14 2007 and installed on October 2 2007. He has written several books.

He was ordained for the diocese of St Augustine in 1970 and sent to Rome for doctoral studies in dogmatic theology shortly thereafter. He has served in turns as a parish priest, campus minister and seminary formator before being tapped to lead the Diocese of Charleston in 1999. As bishop of Charleston, Baker presided over rapid growth, thanks to a combination of adult converts, (the state's Catholic population boomed by almost 40% to over 175,000 during his tenure). He also dedicated new or expanded churches, schools and parish facilities has been both the imperative and the norm.

With the Diocese of Charleston now vacant, Bishop Baker's appointment to Birmingham keeps the number of U.S. dioceses lacking a bishop at eight; Fact|date=May 2008 the longest wait now belongs to Saint Thomas, American Virgin Islands, whose has been "sede vacante" since January 2007.

Bibliography

* "Cacique: A Novel of Florida's Heroic Mission History" [http://www.bishopbaker.com/ Saint Catherine of Siena Press]

External links

* [http://www.bhmdiocese.org/ Diocese of Birmingham in Alabama Website]