By Gina Christian
MOBILE, Ala. (OSV News) – The Archdiocese of Mobile, Alabama, will welcome a new shepherd, as Pope Leo XIV has accepted the resignation of Archbishop Thomas J. Rodi and appointed Auxiliary Bishop Mark S. Rivituso of St. Louis as his successor.
The resignation and appointment were announced in Washington July 1 by Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the apostolic nuncio to the U.S.
Archbishop Rodi, 76, had submitted his resignation to the pope in March 2024 upon reaching his 75th birthday, as required by canon law.
The archbishop, who has served in his current see for more than 17 years, will continue as apostolic administrator of the Mobile Archdiocese until the installation of now-Archbishop Rivituso.
Archbishop Rivituso’s installation Mass is set to take place Sept. 3 at the Cathedral-Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Mobile at 11 a.m.
Archbishop Rodi hailed the appointment of his successor, saying in a July 1 statement he was “most grateful to the Holy Father for sending us this outstanding bishop.”
“Every time I have an opportunity to truly serve others, that’s always a blessing,” Archbishop Rivituso said at a Mobile news conference about his appointment. “This is a wonderful opportunity with the Catholic faith community and other partners of goodwill. I hope to work together for the greater good, to especially be mindful of the poor, those who are marginalized, those who are suffering, those who are in need.”
“There’s been a recent precedent of welcoming Midwesterners to our universal church with Pope Leo to Chicago,” he continued. “I appreciate you are faithful to that precedent and welcoming this Midwesterner from St. Louis to be part of this archdiocese.”
“I will say I have already been won over by your Southern charm and hospitality. I feel a sense of belonging. … I do feel at home in ‘Sweet Home Alabama,’” he added, referencing a popular song.
Archbishop Rivituso, 63, a St. Louis native and the sixth of eight children, has ministered extensively throughout the St. Louis Archdiocese and has served as its vicar general since 2011.
A graduate of Cardinal Glennon College and Kenrick Seminary, both in St. Louis, he earned a licentiate in canon and civil law from St. Paul University in Ottawa, Ontario.
His 1988 priestly ordination in St. Louis foreshadowed a future connection to Mobile: The late Archbishop John L. May, who ordained him, had led the Alabama archdiocese prior to his St. Louis appointment.
He has long experience in prison and death-row ministry – an issue particularly relevant to Alabama, which carried out the first-ever nitrogen gas execution in the U.S. in 2024. Archbishop Rivituso advocated for the end of capital punishment in Missouri and has worked with Catholic Mobilizing Network in death penalty abolition efforts.
“The late Pope Francis really taught me about making sure that we’re mindful of those who are on the peripheries,” he told the St. Louis Review in an interview published July 1. “I feel like that’s always something that’s going to be important in my heart and ministry. The church is so blessed to be involved in the works of compassion, and I think that’s where we truly live what Jesus has called us to do about living his works of mercy.”
At the press conference, Archbishop Rivituso said, “I am blessed. … I will labor with the shepherding love of Jesus for all of you because I want to love you as Christ loves. I want to do what I can to lift each other up so we live out the goodness of our life and just know that we’re here for each other.”
(Gina Christian is a multimedia reporter for OSV News. Follow her on X @GinaJesseReina. Contributing to this was Rob Herbst, editor of The Catholic Week, news outlet of the Archdiocese of Mobile.)