Pope Francis has named Fr. Andrew H. Cozzens new auxiliary bishop of the archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.
Cozzens was assistant professor at St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity in St. Paul, Minn., according to Vatican Radio.
The appointment comes as Archbishop John Nienstedt is under fire for the way his archdiocese handled an alleged pornography cover-up inside his chancery. The archdiocese has been accused of withholding from police images of child pornography that were on a priest's laptop, deciding instead to place the evidence in a church-owned vault.
Nienstedt's top deputy resigned abruptly last week in response to the allegation that he covered up evidence of the child pornography.
He was born on 3 August 1968 in Stamford, Connecticut, and attended Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, where he earned a bachelor's degree in English literature and philosophy. He served on National Evangelization Teams (NET) for one year and then was co-director of Campus Outreach, St. Paul's Outreach in the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.
He entered as a seminarian for the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis and, upon completing his theological studies in 1997, was ordained. He served as vicar at two parishes before moving to Rome for graduate studies. He earned his licentiate (2002) and doctorate (2008) in dogmatic theology at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum). For four years during his time in Rome, he served as chaplain for the Missionaries of Charity.
Upon his return to the archdiocese, he served as assistant director for the Office for Worship and in various roles at the seminary. He is a member of the Mission Advisory Council and Corporate Board of the Institute for Priestly Formation in Omaha, of St. Paul's Outreach Board of Directors in Saint Paul, and co-chaplain of the Serra Club of the Twin Cities.
He is also a founding member of the priestly association Companions of Christ.
Cozzens introduces himself in this video at a banquet recognizing St. Paul's Outreach program.
