Tomorrow, Joseph M. Siegel will formally become the sixth bishop for the Diocese of Evansville in an installation mass at St. Benedict Cathedral in Evansville.
He replaces Bishop Charles C. Thompson, who left the Evansville Diocese in June to become the new Indianapolis archbishop. Siegel was previously auxiliary bishop of the Joliet, Illinois, diocese, a considerably larger Catholic community than Evansville with more than 600,000 Catholics compared to the about 80,000 in the local diocese
Siegel notes that as with all Catholic dioceses, both share the same message of proclaiming the Christian faith, as well as service and outreach, especially to those in need.
54-year old Siegel was born in Joliet and raised on a farm in Lockport Township in Illinois. He was ordained a priest for the Joliet Diocese on March 4, 1988, and first assigned to Isidore Parish in Bloomingdale, Illinois. He remained there until 1994.
Siegel is not altogether unfamiliar with southwestern Indiana, having completed his college education at St. Meinrad Seminary in Spencer County.
