Bishop Jaime Soto head of Sacramento Diocese

[Matt]

Pope Benedict XVI has accepted the resignation of Bishop William K. Weigand, who headed the Diocese of Sacramento for nearly 15 years, <!--more-->and appointed the diocese's coadjutor bishop as his successor, Archbishop Pietro Sambi announced today in Washington, D.C.

Bishop Jaime Soto, 51, became Sacramento's coadjutor bishop last year and is one of 26 active Hispanic Catholic bishops in the United States. He was ordained in 1982 after receiving his master's in divinity at St. John's Seminary in Camarillo.

In 1986, Soto received a master's in social work from Columbia University in New York. In 1987, he helped several immigrants apply for amnesty, which he said quickly immersed him in the issues facing the Latino community. Before being appointed to the Sacramento Diocese in 2007, Soto had been an auxiliary bishop in the Diocese of Orange.

Weigand, 71, in September asked the pope for permission to retire, citing age and health problems. He has long suffered from liver disease and received a liver transplant in April 2005. He is four years younger than the age at which canon law requires a bishop to resign, according to the diocese's website.

Weigand drew national attention in January 2003 when he called on Gov. Gray Davis and other Catholics who supported abortion rights to abstain from receiving communion. In 2005, Weigand oversaw the diocese's payment of $35 million to settle 33 claims of clergy abuse. The diocese is one of the biggest in the state, with 500,000 Catholics across 20 counties.