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Father Choby Appointed Bishop of Nashville

Pope Benedict XVI has appointed Reverend David R. Choby as the eleventh Bishop of Nashville. Rev. Choby will be ordained a bishop and installed as the eleventh Bishop of Nashville at the Cathedral of the Incarnation at a time to be announced later.

Father Choby, 58, is a native of Nashville and is currently serving as the Administrator of the Diocese of Nashville and pastor of St. John Vianney Parish in Gallatin.

As bishop, he will lead a diocese of approximately 75,000 Catholics in 51 parishes and 3 missions. The Diocese of Nashville includes 38 counties in Middle Tennessee.

“I am truly honored and humbled by this appointment,” Rev. Choby said. “I will do my best to respond to the confidence that Pope Benedict places in me.”

He was ordained to the priesthood September 6, 1974 by Bishop Joseph A. Durick and has served a number of assignments in the Diocese of Nashville. He was associate pastor at St. Joseph Parish, Madison, administrator of St. Ann Parish, and spent three years in residence at Christ the King Parish while working at the diocesan tribunal. In 1989 he was appointed pastor of St. John Vianney Parish in Gallatin.

Rev. Choby holds a Canon Law degree and has worked at the diocesan tribunal throughout most of his priesthood.

Rev. Choby was on the faculty of The Pontifical College Josephinum, a seminary in Columbus, Ohio between 1984 and 1989. He currently serves on the seminary’s board.

He has served two five-year terms on the diocese’s Presbyteral Council and College of Consultors. On November 2, 2004 the College of Consultors, a council of priests, elected him to serve as the Diocesan Administrator after Bishop Edward Kmiec was installed as the Bishop of Buffalo.

“I came to know Father Choby well during my tenure as bishop of Nashville, and I know him as one endowed with wonderful qualities of priestliness and pastoral zeal which he will now bring to his new office and ministry as bishop of Nashville,” Bishop Kmiec said in a written statement.

“I wish to offer my prayerful congratulations to Bishop-designate Choby. He has done an excellent job as diocesan administrator and will shepherd a great diocese of faith filled people who will continue to work with him in fulfilling the mission of the Church,” Bishop Kmiec added.

Rev. Choby is the son of Raymond and Rita Choby, both deceased. He has one sister, Diane C. Dyche, who resides in Ft. Worth, Texas.