From Oak Ridge to Missouri

The Holy Father has accepted the retirement of the Most Reverend John J. Leibrecht as Bishop of Springfield-Cape Girardeau, Missouri.

His Holiness has named as the new Bishop of Springfield-Cape Girardeau Monsignor James Vann Johnston, Jr., Chancellor and Moderator of the Curia of the Diocese of Knoxville, Tennessee.

Bishop-elect Johnston was born in Knoxville in 1959. He attended St. Joseph Elementary School and Knoxville Catholic High School and then studied at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, completing a Bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering. After having worked for a while, he entered St. Meinrad Seminary in Indiana where he earned a Master’s Degree in Divinity. He would later complete a License in Canon Law at the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC.

He was ordained a priest June 9, 1990 for the Diocese of Knoxville. After ordination, he served in the following positions: from 1990 to 1992, Parochial Vicar at St. Mary Church in Oak Ridge, Tennessee; from 1992 to 1994, Parochial Vicar at St Jude Church in Chattanooga as well as Chaplain and teacher at Notre Dame School; from 1994 to 1996, studies at Catholic University of America; from 1996 to 2001, Parochial Vicar at Holy Ghost Church in Knoxville; from 1996 onward, Chancellor; and from 2001 onward, Moderator of the Curia. He also served as pastor of Our Lady of Fatima Church in Alcoa since 2007.