Rome – On Wednesday, Pope Liu appointed a successor to the head of bishops of New Orleans Gregory Monde, two weeks after he agreed to a proposed settlement of $ 230 million for survivors of sexual abuse of clerics.
The first American Pope in history is called Bishop James Kokachio of Metotion, New Jersey, as CODJUTOR in New Orleans. The Checchio position in the AYMOND success line is automatically placed.
Checchio, 59, dealt with Metuchen’s repercussions in revealing explosive sexual behavior for 2018 for one of his predecessors there, then Theodore McCarrick. Before arriving at Metuchen in 2016, Checchio was the president of the United States University in Rome for a decade.
On September 8, the New Orleans diocese approved a proposed settlement of $ 230 million to end one of the longest and most controversial American Church’s longest battles on abuse. In May, I suggested paying at least $ 179.2 million in response to more than 500 claims, but the victim’s lawyer opposed the deal as a very low.
In front of the survivors until late October to vote on whether or not they will agree to the revised settlement. If two -thirds of the survivors approve it, the payments may begin to exchange by next year.
Pope Liu XIV offers a blessing during the weekly public public in Saint Peter Square, in the Vatican, on Wednesday, September 24, 2025.
(AP Photo/alessandra tarantino, file)
Aymond reached the mandatory retirement age of 75 November, indicating that the Vatican kept him in place to finish the finishing touches to settle the abuse and allow an organized handover of his successor.
The diocese of the diocese offered in May 2020, instead of dealing with every demand for abuse separately, which the survivors say that the church leadership allowed to avoid facing difficult questions in the court.
In a statement posted on the site of Abroshi, Aimand welcomed Sheikh as his successor, “with great hope for the future.” Animand said that he intends to continue as the head of bishops until the bankruptcy is completed “and other issues of pastoral care are completed.”
For his part, Checchio expressed his gratitude for nine years in Metuchen and said he is looking forward to serving the people of New Orleans.
“I am definitely grateful to our Lord and his deputy, Pope Liu XIV, to send me to be part of a beautiful society,” said Checchio, born in Camden, New Jersey, who holds a certificate in the ecclesiastical and business administration law.
Animand resisted invitations to resign from the church’s failures, which led to an investigation into the FBI and a successive crisis of the Catholic Church. An investigation at AP earlier this year revealed that the diocese of seeking help from New Orleans executives to help the scenes while controlling damage.
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