Bay City News -- Pope Francis today appointed the Rev. Michael Barber to be the next bishop of the Diocese of Oakland.
Barber, 59, currently is the director of spiritual formation at St. John's Seminary in the Archdiocese of Boston, a post he has held since 2010.
Barber, who will be ordained to the episcopate and installed as bishop at the Cathedral of Christ the Light in Oakland on May 25, will succeed Salvatore Cordileone, who became the archbishop of San Francisco on Oct. 4.
Archbishop Alex Brunett has been acting as apostolic administrator for the Diocese of Oakland since that time and will continue to lead the diocese until Barber is installed.
Diocese of Oakland officials said Barber has deep roots in the Bay Area because his father, Adlai Barber, was born in Oakland and his mother, Dolores, was born in San Francisco, although Barber was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1954.