Charles Chaput is new Archbishop of Philadelphia

The Denver Archbishop is coming to Philadelphia to lead the region’s Catholics.

Pope Benedict has named Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver to take over for retiring Cardinal Justin Rigali. Chaput was ordained as a priest in 1970 and became a bishop when he was 43, he is only the second Native-American bishop and the first Archbishop of Native-American ancestry.

Michael Sean Winters of the National Catholic Reporter broke the story of the change at the top in the Philadelphia church. He says Chaput’s job will be to work to restore confidence in the church after the recent sexual abuse scandal.

“You get a little bit more of a bomb-thrower a little bit more of a clear rejection of Cardinal Rigali’s more low key leadership, they would be opting to send in someone like the marshall going into Dodge City to clean out the mess,” said Winters.

Archbishop Chaput is scheduled to be installed in his new position on September 8th.

Do you think Charles Chaput is a good choice to restore confidence in the Catholic church in Philadelphia? Is he too confrontational, or just what Catholics need? What do you want to see him do? Let us know in the comments below.