| Styles of Robert Conlon |
|
|---|---|
| Reference style | The Most Reverend |
| Spoken style | Your Excellency |
| Religious style | Monsignor |
| Posthumous style | not applicable |
Robert Daniel Conlon (born December 4, 1948) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He is currently Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet-in-Illinois, after having served from August 6, 2002 until May 17, 2011 as Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Steubenville, Ohio. He succeeds as Bishop of Joliet His Excellency, the Most Reverend Archbishop James Peter Sartain, who in September 2010 was appointed Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Seattle, Washington.
Robert Conlon was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, as the eldest of the six children of Robert and Carla (née Holzman) Conlon. He attended St. Mary Church in Hyde Park as a child, and received the diaconate on March 9, 1974. Conlon obtained his Master's in Divinity from the Athenaeum of Ohio in 1975, and served as a deacon at St. Agnes Church in Cincinnati, where he was ordained to the priesthood on January 15, 1977. He then served as associate pastor at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Cincinnati until July 1982.
From 1981 to 1983, Conlon worked within the archdiocesan curia of Cincinnati, as director of the Office of Planning and Research and assistant chancellor. He then furthered his studies at St. Paul University in Ottawa, from where he earned his doctorate in canon law and in philosophy in January 1987. Upon his return to the United States, Conlon was made chancellor for Cincinnati and director of its Department of Executive Services. He later became pastor of Holy Redeemer Church in New Bremen on August 6, 1996.
On May 31, 2002, Conlon was appointed the fourth Bishop of Steubenville by Pope John Paul II. He received his episcopal consecration on the following August 6 from Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk, the head of the Ecclesiastical Province of Cincinnati, Ohio (of which the Diocese of Steubenville is a part) with Bishops Gilbert Sheldon and Sydney Charles serving as co-consecrators. Conlon took as his episcopal motto: "Take Courage" (Daniel 10:19, John 16:33).
In 2005, the Bishop decided to lead a group of volunteers to assist the victims of Hurricane Katrina, after hearing Archbishop Alfred Hughes speak about the devastation that Katrina caused in his Archdiocese of New Orleans.[1]
Within the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, he currently sits on the Committee on Marriage and Family and the Committee for the Protection of Children and Young People.
| Preceded by Gilbert Ignatius Sheldon |
Bishop of Steubenville 2002–2011 |
Succeeded by sede vacante |