Bishop John Ricard, head of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee, announced his resignation to a letter, dated to March 7, to Catholics in the area. Archbishop Thomas Wenski, Archbishop of Miami, will the interim Bishop until a new one is appointed.
Richard, who has been battling illness for the past year, will move to Washington, D.C. and will reside at St. Joseph Seminary, where he will be the spiritual director of seminarians.
“It is my sincere prayer that God will bless you and your families,” wrote Richard, “I am confident that God will guide us, you and I, to where he wishes us to be of greatest service to him, the Church and each other.”